


such a beautiful mess

by skambition



Category: SKAM (Norway)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Banter, Coffee Shops, Explicit Sexual Content, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Getting to Know Each Other, Hate to Love, Isak hooks up a lot, M/M, Oblivious Isak, One Night Stands, POV Isak Valtersen, Partying, if you know me you know what to expect I'm bad at tagging things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-06-20 08:44:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 48,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15530532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skambition/pseuds/skambition
Summary: Isak works at Kaffebrenneriet to save up some money for a trip with his friends.Normally, working there is chill.Until Isak starts to work together with Even, an arrogant hipster with horrible taste in music, that keeps using the phrase 'sex hair' and is not only judgemental and stupid, but also so hot that Isak sometimes can't breathe around him.Isak hates him. Until he doesn't.OR: Coffee shop/ Hate to Friends to Lovers AU that one of you asked forTITLE is taken from the song 'sex hair' by MouseRat - I think  it's obvious why.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Halla ♡
> 
> This is for the beautiful amazing carola nå (@alteruendelig) and for beautisometimes, because everything I write is for you in one way or the other.
> 
> Isak has meaningless sex in this story because he likes to have meaningless sex in this universe. If you find that unfitting for his character or if you find this offensive or whatever, maybe just don't read this.
> 
> I don't know how often I'll be able to update, we'll just see as we go.
> 
> alt er love ♡ be kind

* * *

 

“Oh god, turn that fucking alarm off.”

Isak groaned as he turned around, blindly reaching for his phone to turn it off, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head.

“Morning, Isak,” a voice mumbled next to him, and Isak squinted his eyes as he looks over at… Halvor? Håkon? Henrik?

“Morning, um…”

“Tore.”

Well, that was not even kind of close.

“Tore. Sure,” Isak agreed, looking at his phone again,

“Shit, I have to go. I have to work.”

“Why do you work on a Saturday?” Tore groaned, pulling the blanket up over his pretty impressive abs.

“I do extra shifts during the semester break,” Isak explained as he pulls on his underwear and then started looking for the rest of his clothes, getting a little hectic because there was just no way he was going to make work on time.

“Okay,” Tore yawned, “hey, I had fun last night, though.”

“Yeah, me too,” Isak said as he pulled on his shirt, wincing a little at the fact that it smelled like alcohol and cigarettes and, well, sex.

“Have fun at work,” Tore sighed, obviously almost asleep again.

Shit, he really was hot, drunk Isak was not doing a bad job at selecting one night stands.

“If I make it one time, I will,” Isak mumbled, closing the zipper of his hoodie, looking around if he had everything, “hey, if you come by KB later, I’ll get you a free coffee.”

“Oh yeah?” Tore grinned, opening one eye to look at Isak, and fuck, Isak would love to run his hands through that dark hair again. It looked good like this, all tangled up from sleep.

“Yeah,” Isak shrugged, “I work at the one on Markveien.”

“Sweet, maybe I will.”

“Yeah. I have to go, thanks again for last night,” Isak smiled, and Tore gave him a tired wave before Isak slipped out of his room, already looking up where the fuck he even was on Google maps as he made his way out of the apartment.

Luckily, he wasn’t that far away from the Kaffebrenneriet he worked at. He had gotten the job a few months back, only working a few shifts after uni, but now that he was mostly done with exams and needed some money for the vacation he and the boys had planned for later that summer, he decided to pick up some shifts at the weekend as well.

He didn’t know the guy he was supposed to work with, but he was sure he would be nice – all of the employees were extremely cool and chill, always drinking coffee and joking around, so Isak wasn’t exactly worried that he was about five minutes late, as he opened the door to KB.

This guy would probably be-

_Fucking drop dead gorgeous._

He looked so good that Isak was almost annoyed with it. He also immediately regretted inviting his one night stand over for coffee ( _really, Isak?_ ) and he also regretted hooking up altogether, because he just knew what he looked like after a night of partying and sex, and it wasn’t exactly a pretty picture.

The guy was standing behind the counter, an almost blinding beaming smile on his incredibly hot lips, his hair defying all laws of physics Isak had been studying so desperately, he was tall and his eyes were blue and – good god his smile.

“Good morning,” he beamed at Isak, and well, Isak sort of understood why all of those idiots got way too expensive coffee with a couple of extras and shit.

Even could probably talk him into buying a horse that would then live in his apartment with him.

“Morning,” Isak smiled back, hoping that he looked laid back and chill and not as heart-eyes-emoji as he felt, “I’m Isak.”

“Even,” Even smiled back, holding out his hand for Isak, and it took a lot of will power not to rub his cheek against it like a kitten.

“Nice to meet you,” Isak said, shaking Even’s hand, never wanting to stop.

They stood there and stared at each other for a second, before Isak cleared his throat,

“Um, I should- I’m really sorry I was late.”

“Not a problem. Long night?”

Isak huffed out a laugh, running a hand through his hair, internally cursing at how tangled up it felt, all flattened in the back, curly around his temples, before he got out of his hoodie, reaching for one of the aprons hanging behind the counter.

He felt Even’s eyes move over his body, and he felt his cheeks heat up a little at that.

“Is that…?” Even asked, eyebrows raised, pointing at a stain on Isak’s shirt.

And _shit_.

Isak’s blush deepened, as he hurried to tie the apron over the obvious stain,

“No! No! Um, no, that’s just- I had breakfast earlier, and spilled some… yoghurt?”

Even rolled his eyes,

“Sure.”

Isak frowned, tilting his head,

“What’s your problem?”

“Nothing. Just a little unprofessional, don’t you think? Coming in here, probably hung over from last night, with sex hair and stains on your shirt?”

“Sex hair?” Isak echoed.

“What, it’s a thing,” Even defended himself, pointing to the mess on Isak’s head.

“Okay, first of all, the expression ‘sex hair’? Not a thing. Second of all, don’t fucking judge me. I told you I spilled something. And I don’t see how any of this is any of your concern.”

“Well, I don’t like working with people that are hungover because they were busy… spilling yoghurt all night,” Even snapped back, running a hand through his stupid beautiful hair, “and yes, it is a thing. Didn’t you see Parks and Recreation?”

“No, I didn’t,” Isak hissed, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Well, you should, it’s on Netflix and it’s really good!” Even hissed back, before he started wiping at an invisible stain at the coffee maker.

Isak shook his head slightly, trying to understand what just happened here.

He had to admit that it wasn’t the greatest impression to come into work with what was most definitely not sex hair, and yoghurt stains on his shirt, but he didn’t get why Even would care about any of this. Since when was showing up to work like that a problem? They worked at a fucking coffee shop. 90% of their customers probably had some version of Isak’s night themselves.

“You okay with taking orders?” Even asked, sounding a little nicer again.

Isak tried not to stare at his ass as he nodded,

“Yeah, totally,” he said, slowly taking his place behind the counter, taking a deep breath when their first customer came in.

It would be a long fucking day.

 

\--

 

Tore came by around noon, and well, now that Isak had seen true beauty and unbelievable hotness all merged into one judgmental idiot, he didn’t seem quite as hot anymore.

Still hot.

Just no Even.

“Hey,” Tore grinned, leaning against the counter slightly, tilting his head as he checked Isak out.

“Hey. Finally awake?” Isak grinned back, leaning in just the same.

“What can I say, you tired me out last night,” Tore flirted, winking at Isak.

He heard Even clear his throat next to him, turning to him with an unimpressed expression,

“Yes?”

“Just- there’s a line. Like, people are waiting.”

Isak rolled his eyes, shaking his head a little before returning his attention to Tore, giving him a seductive smile, not missing how Even was staring at them,

“So, what can I get you?”

“Black coffee is good.”

Isak turned to Even again, who quickly looked down at the cup he was holding,

“Black coffee, large,” he told him, before smiling at Tore again.

“Shit, you look hot in an apron,” Tore said quietly, and Isak enjoyed the annoyed sound Even made at that comment.

He leaned over the counter a little more,

“I look pretty hot without it, too.”

Tore nodded, his eyes scanning Isak,

“You do, baby.”

Even interrupted them by shoving the coffee cup into Tore’s hand,

“Here. Your coffee.”

“Thank you,” Tore smiled, before looking at Isak again,

“I’ll be seeing you.”

Isak nodded,

“Preferably naked.”

“Preferably.”

He watched him leave with a smirk on his face, before he noticed Even staring at him again,

“What?”

“Nothing,” Even hissed, rolling his eyes, gesturing towards the woman waiting at the counter.

“Hi, welcome to Kaffebrenneriet, what can I get you?” Isak smiled at her, ignoring Even’s eyes on him.

 

\--

 

“Hey, the lost son returns,” Jonas greeted Isak when he got home a couple of hours later.

Isak just rolled his eyes as he got out of his shoes to walk past Jonas and into his room.

“Jesus, what is up with you?” Jonas asked with a frown, “I expected you to be in an excellent mood after you didn’t come home last night.”

Isak just sighed, getting out of his hoodie to take a shower.

“Is that jizz on your shirt?!”

“Jesus fucking Christ, why is that the first assumption everyone makes?!”

“I just know you,” Jonas shrugged, “why are you so pissed at me?”

“I’m not,” Isak mumbled, pulling the shirt off to throw it into the hamper angrily, “I just had a shitty day at work.”

“At work?” Jonas echoed, leaning against the doorframe, “didn’t you say everyone at work is really chill and nice?”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Isak nodded, “but the guy I had to work with today was such an asshole.”

“What did he do?”

“Well, first of all he commented on the fact that I had a small, minor stain on my shirt, which is ridiculous, because first, it doesn’t fucking concern him what my shirt looks like, and second, he didn’t fucking believe me when I told him I just spilled something eating breakfast!”

Jonas opened his mouth, but Isak was already continuing as he pulled of his socks, working himself into rage,

“Then he had the nerve to tell me I was hung over and late – which, okay, was partly true – but I mean there weren’t any customers there, and it was really no big deal. And then he told me I had sex hair! As if that was some sort of expression you could use.”

“It is, actually, didn’t you watch Parks and Recreation?” Jonas asked with a frown.

Isak rolled his eyes, taking his jeans off,

“No, I didn’t watch that. Anyway, who tells somebody they met a second ago that they have sex hair? How the fuck doesn’t he know that my hair doesn’t look like that like all the time? And then Tore came by, you know the guy that I did last night, and we sort of flirted, and Even was a real jerk about it. All like ‘hey, there are other people waiting in line’. And then he chose the playlist and I had to listen to Gabrielle and DiDerre all fucking day.”

“DiDerre is actually not that bad. I like that new song, _Det går fint_?”

Isak shook his hand, grabbing a towel,

“You’re the worst best friend ever,” he grumbled as he pushed past Jonas to go take a shower.

“You do know what you sound like, right?” Jonas asked, following him.

“Do I want to hear this?” Isak mumbled, hanging up his towel before looking at Jonas with an annoyed expression.

“I’m just saying that if you were kids, you would be this close to pulling this guy’s pigtails and not allowing him to get on the swing with you.”

“Are you kidding me?” Isak asked, eyes wide with disbelief.

“You’re crushing on him.”

“First of all, I don’t crush on anyone. Second, that guy was rude and weird and has horrible taste in music. We listened to Enya when we closed up. Enya.”

“Okay,” Jonas agreed, lifting his hands up to show he was giving up, “whatever you say, man. Just, for the record, what does this guy look like?”

Isak stared at him for a few agonizing seconds, before he wordlessly started closing the bathroom door, gritting his teeth as he heard Jonas laugh.

 

\--

 

“Hey,” Even smiled at Isak two days later, and Isak stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

He wouldn’t have come in today if he had known that Even would be here. Their boss had texted him pretty spontaneously and since Isak hadn’t been doing anything other than listening to Magnus tell Jonas about how girls did, for a fact, have multiple g-spots and where they seemed to be located, he had decided that working would be the better option.

He regretted that now.

“Hi,” he answered, giving Even a short smile as he got behind the counter, getting out of his jacket to hang it up.

“I see you fixed your hair,” Even grinned, pointing at Isak’s head.

“If by fixed you mean put a snapback on, then yes, I fixed my hair,” Isak mumbled, tying the apron around his waist.

“Looks good.”

“Well, I’m glad I’m not insulting you with my normal gravity-unresisting hair again,” Isak said, carrying a few empty cups over to the dish washer.

“Gravity unresisting hair?” Even repeated, raising an eyebrow, and god, Isak really wished he would look a little less hot like that.

Because he did. He looked good enough to eat.

“Yeah, you know, just because your hair defies the laws of physics, you go around and insult people who have normal hair,” Isak explained, wiping the counter clean, Even still leaning against the shelf behind him, watching Isak with a grin,

“You like my hair.”

“I do not like your hair. I just said it’s, like, gravity-resistant. Which is a bad thing, by the way. I’m a big fan of gravity.”

Good one, Isak, he internally congratulated himself on that burn.

“Big fan of gravity, huh?” Even repeated with a smirk, and shit, Isak wanted to eat him.

“Ugh, shut up,” he mumbled, not really in the mood for this.

“And I didn’t insult your hair, by the way. I just pointed out that you had sex hair,” Even explained.

“I did not have- it’s not even a fucking phrase, stop using it,” Isak hissed, a little more quiet now, because a woman was approaching the counter.

He greeted her and asked for her order, a forced smile on his face, while Even’s smile seemed to be more real and happy than ever.

 

\--

 

It had only been two hours and Isak was dying.

Even was annoying him, as usual, and the music he was playing today was even worse – _Optimist_ by Jahn Teigen was pretty bad to begin with, but after hearing for the tenth time and watching Even actually mouth the words of the song with his fucking kissable lips had been pure torture – but what bothered Isak the most was how good Even looked today.

His hair was perfect as usual, and he still managed to look like he didn’t put any effort into it, his jeans fit perfectly, and Isak was cursing that apron he wore over it, somehow his white shirt just looked even better on him after he had stained it with some coffee, and his hands, shit, Isak could barely stop staring at them.

If Even wasn’t such an asshole, Isak would be dragging him into the break room right now.

“Good evening!” he heard Jonas’s voice, waking him up from the daydreams he’d been having.

“Hey,” Isak smiled, actually relieved to see his best friend.

It had gotten pretty quiet by now, it was almost time to close up, and he couldn’t wait to walk home with Jonas, complain about Even a little bit and maybe talk Jonas into getting kebab instead of cooking something healthy again.

There was only so much broccoli Isak could tolerate in their household.

 “Can I get you something?” Isak asked with a grin, “It’s on the house.”

“You can’t give every guy you want to bang free coffee, you know,” Even hissed next to him, making both Isak and Jonas look at him with wide eyes.

Isak considered playing along and flirting with Jonas just to piss Even off, but Jonas was quick to ruin that plan,

“He does want to bang me, _believe me_ , but coffee won’t work with me.”

Isak rolled his eyes,

“I do not want to bang you,” he told Jonas, before turning to Even, “this is just Jonas, my best friend.”

“Oh,” Even said, and Isak could swear he saw him blush a little bit, “sorry then. What can I get you?”

“No problem,” Jonas grinned happily, “I’ll have a free Americano, please.”

Isak just rolled his eyes as Even got to work, turning back to Jonas,

“So, I’m done in like fifteen minutes, you want to go out for kebab or something?”

“Sounds great,” Jonas nodded, “Eva wanted to come by later, but other than that I’m free as a bird.”

“Sweet. Ask her if she can bring cookies.”

“If anyone should get free homemade cookies from my girlfriend, it should be me,” Jonas said, drumming his fingers against the counter.

“Well, she likes me better than you,” Isak grinned, winking at Jonas.

Even interrupted their talk, gently handing Jonas’s cup over with a sweet smile,

“There you go.”

“Thank you…”, Jonas squinted his eyes to read his name tag, “Even. Oh. _You’re_ Even.”

Isak closed his eyes, quietly praying for Jonas to just leave.

Fuck kebab, fuck their ten year friendship, he just wanted him to leave.

“Yeah. Nice to meet you. Hey, you look familiar, do you go to UiO by any chance?”

“I do, I’m studying philosophy and politics.”

“Jesus, that’s a rough combination,” Even smiled, leaning against the counter, obviously getting ready for a longer talk.

“Talk about rough combinations, this one is studying biochemistry and physics,” Jonas rolled his eyes, pointing at Isak.

Even turned a little to look at Isak, eyebrows raised again,

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, it’s-“

“He’s pretty much a genius,” Jonas interrupted him, smiling at Even again, “hey, did you take critical media last semester?”

Even snapped his fingers before pointing at Jonas happily,

“That’s where I know you from! That was such a dope class!”

“It really was. I’ve been dreading writing that paper, though, it sounds brutal.”

“Yeah. I did have some good ideas on it, but I can’t seem to find any way to make them work…”

Isak stared at them in disbelief, slowly shaking his head at the obvious bonding going on right in front of his eyes.

That’s it. He would move out immediately when he would get home.

 

\--

 

“You are such a fucking traitor!” Isak hissed when they finally left KB half an hour later.

Jonas laughed,

“What? How am I a traitor?!”

“You know I don’t like that guy and you go and bond with him over your fucking hipster coffee,” Isak cried.

“It’s called an Americano,” Jonas explained, gesturing around with his almost empty coffee cup, “and we didn’t bond, we just happen to have the same class in uni. That happens.”

“You gave him your _number_. You literally have a date to go over that stupid paper next week,” Isak said through gritted teeth, burying his hands in the pocket of his jacket to hide the fact that he had balled them into fists.

“It is not a date,” Jonas rolled his eyes, “and anyway, if you would get your head out of your ass, you’d see that Even is a really nice guy.”

“I think he might be a little homophobic.”

Jonas stopped walking, staring at Isak with wide eyes,

“Are you serious?!”

“What? You heard how he talked to me when I offered you a free drink. He’s been acting just the same when that Terje guy came in when we first worked together. Like it was weird that I was hooking up with guys.”

“Trust me, Isak, I don’t think Even is homophobic,” Jonas promised, shaking his head.

“I can’t think of any other reason why it would bother him this much that I’m flirting with some random dude or giving a guy free coffee,” Isak said as he started walking again, and Jonas just let out an annoyed breath before he followed him,

“Yep,” he mumbled under his breath, “what other reason could there possibly be?”

 

* * *

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halla ♡ 
> 
> This chapter is a little shorter, but I find that it's easier not to really pay attention to how long a chapter is - some of you might remember that this used to escalate sometimes into like 100k long chapters, which won't happen in this story.
> 
> But yeah, I just don't care about how long chapters are anymore, if I feel like it's done, it's done, and I hope that this way, I can update a little more often without feeling like I need to add something to have it fill a certain number of pages.
> 
> I also wanted to say thank you for all of your comments, I'm really happy that you're enjoying the story so much! Keep letting me know what you think about it!
> 
> Finally, I know that some of you have been really concerned because I have deactivated my twitter account. Since I do miss my daily dosis of Evak pictures and gifs, I will probably re-activate it at some point, but I just wanted to take a break from social media to concentrate on other things in my life, and even though the fandom is incredibly supportive most of the time, not everyone is, and I just wanted to have some time off, and remember why I engaged in watching SKAM and create something in this universe which is exactly what I'm doing with this story, having fun with it again, and I hope you guys have just as much fun reading it ♡ 
> 
> alt er love ♡ be kind

* * *

 

Isak hated the summer heat.

Normally, it didn’t really get this hot in Oslo, but this year everything seemed a little weird, the burning sun, the heat, the fact that it just wouldn’t start raining.

There was absolutely nothing happening at KB today, everyone was either hiding out in their rooms, escaping the sun and warmth outside, or they were lying at the beach or the fjords somewhere, chilling and tanning and swimming, like all of Isak’s friends.

He wasn’t too annoyed about working actually, since KB had pretty good air conditioning and an endless amount of free milkshakes and iced coffees.

If it wasn’t for one little thing.

“Dude, there is literally no customer here, can you please stop playing Gabrielle?”

Even was sitting on a high chair behind the coffee maker, his feet put up on the counter, playing around with his phone,

“Why does it bother you that much what music is playing?”

“It doesn’t,” Isak mumbled, leaning back a little. He was sitting on the counter, leaning against the shelf with all of their different types of coffee on it, an iced coffee in his hand,

“I just don’t see why we need to play it when there’s no one here.”

“Someone might come in,” Even argued.

“Yeah, if someone would come in right now, your music is not going to save the impression we’re going to make,” Isak deadpanned, taking a sip of his coffee just to prove a point.

“Touché,” Even admitted, stopping the music, throwing his phone on the counter,

“You can leave, if you want to, you know. There’s not much happening, and it’s only two hours until I have to close up.”

“Sorry, but I really need the money, so,” Isak said, taking another sip, “it’s my shift, too, so I’m staying.”

“Suit yourself,” Even mumbled, checking his watch, then his fingernails, then the ceiling.

It was true, Isak needed the money, and right now, it was pretty easy money, too, getting paid to just sit around and chill. Plus, the view was sort of nice.

They stayed quiet for a while, until Isak’s cell phone started buzzing, and Isak sighed, getting it out of his way too tight jean shorts, checking the message.

His little sister had sent him a text asking if he wanted to come to visit their mom on the weekend.

He smiled, tilting his head, just about to reply, when Even’s voice interrupted his thoughts,

“Grindr date?”

Isak lowered his phone, squinting his eyes,

“Why do you care?”

Even shrugged, reaching for his phone again, playing around with it,

“I don’t.”

“Does it bother you that I’m gay?”

“What? No!”

“Then why is it such a problem for you that I hook up with guys?”

Even blushed, running a hand through his hair,

“No, I’m not- I was just teasing you, I think.”

“ _Friends_ get to tease each other, Even. You don’t get to. Plus, why would you tease me about something like that?”

“No, I just- It’s just that every time we work together, there’s some guy here that you, well, know, and I was just-“

“Slutshaming me,” Isak finished his sentence, looking at Even with a raised eyebrow.

“No! Isak, really, no. I don’t mind that you’re gay, and I don’t, um, care what you do with other guys.”

Isak nodded, shrugging,

“Okay. Whatever.”

“Yeah. Whatever.”

 

\--

 

“You have to move your hand a little more,” Even explained, “try it again.”

Isak clenched his teeth, wondering what he had done in a previous life that he deserved this. Learning how to do latte art from Even, who was apparently the best at it, which is why his chef had insisted that Even should be the one teaching Isak all of this.

Isak had been mildly annoyed by that, but he had to admit that Even was shockingly good at it.

He was currently teaching Isak how to do a heart and leaves, but Isak had seen him do a panda bear, a swan and some other stuff, and deep down – very deep down, under all of his annoyance and anger – he was really impressed with Even.

“I think it looked kind of okay already,” Isak sighed, as Even handed him a new cup of espresso to pour the milk into.

“Kind of okay?” Even repeated, “Judging from your majors, I had expected you to be a little more ambitious.”

“I am,” Isak shot back, “when stuff matters. This doesn’t matter, it’s just, you know. Latte art.”

“Still art,” Even reminded him, watching Isak pour the milk into something resembling a leaf.

“Art is stupid,” Isak mumbled, “I never got why people were so into it. Nobody really needs it, you know. And nowadays, everything is fucking art. I’m pouring milk into coffee and we’re calling it art.”

Even frowned,

“Everyone needs some art from time to time. All the science in the world won’t get you anywhere without art.”

“That’s bullshit,” Isak deadpanned, pouring more milk into the cup to make a second leaf, “like, if people want to study art or be an artist, you do you. But it’s a little farfetched that those people do anything valuable for society. How did I do this time?”

Even shrugged,

“Looks great. Lesson’s over.”

 

\--

 

“He annoys me so much, Jonas,” Isak whined, his head lying on his forearm on the table, “he was actually slutshaming me the other day, like I hook up with every guy I see or something.”

“Well…” Jonas started, but Isak lifted his head to stare at him warningly,

“Not the moment.”

“Fine. Just cut the guy some slack, I’m sure you two are just misunderstanding each other. He’s actually really nice. We met the other day in the library and he was super nice. He brought me coffee and everything. He even remembered my order from when I met him.”

Isak slowly lifted his head, mouth hanging open as he stared at Jonas,

“You’re bro-crushing on him!”

Jonas winced,

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean? That’s not even a thing.”

“Oh, and ‘sex hair’ is?!” Isak mocked back.

“Just watch the fucking show, Isak,” Jonas sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Hey boys!” Mahdi greeted as he and Magnus walked into the bar, sitting down at their table, “what are you talking about?”

“Isak is complaining that out of all the guys in Oslo he has to work with the one guy that doesn’t want to bang him,” Jonas summarized.

“Who, Even? I actually met him and he seemed pretty nice,” Magnus smiled, reaching for Isak’s beer to take a sip.

Isak was too shocked to even react to that,

“What do you mean, you met him?”

“When he and Jonas did that paper thing the other day, Mahdi and I had to study and we ran into each other. I see why you want to bang him, Iss, his hair is noice.”

“Noice is not a word,” Jonas mumbled.

“He was, though,” Mahdi agreed, “I liked him.”

And of course.

Everyone was developing a bro-chrush on Even, while drinking Isak’s beer, and he was stuck working with that idiot that everyone just blindly assumed he had a thing for.

Which he didn’t.

He really, really didn’t.

 

\--

 

So maybe Isak _did_ have a thing for Even.

Not Even the person, of course, because he wasn’t into judgmental idiots with pretty hair and an awful taste in music.

But Even’s outer appearance might have been on Isak’s mind when he had chosen his hook up last night, he now realized.

He was tall, he was lean, he was blond, his hair was pretty gorgeous.

Now that he was slowly blinking open his eyes, Isak realized that they were not as pretty and blue as Even’s, but it was good enough.

“Morning,” he guy mumbled, turning his alarm off.

“Morning,” Isak yawned, running a hand through his hair.

“I should get going,” the guy said, sitting up in bed, the duvet falling down to his hips when he did so, and Isak tilted his head,

“Or you could stay for another round, um…”

“Simen.”

“Simen. Right.”

 

\--

 

“I should really get going now,” Simen sighed, and Isak laughed quietly,

“Yeah, probably.”

“Are you going to call me?” Simen asked, as he sat up to pull on his underwear.

“Still no,” Isak grinned, reaching for a pair of sweatpants.

“Why not? I’m not trying to marry you, Isak, I just want to have fun. And you’re… well, you’re pretty good at having fun,” Simen tried again, getting up to get his shirt.

“I don’t really do… the whole friends with benefits thing,” Isak explained, taking a sip from his water bottle.

“Well, let me know if you change your mind,” Simen said, grabbing Isak’s hand to scribble his number down.

Isak just chuckled and let him. He liked having other guy’s numbers without having to give out his own. It was a way to guarantee that he would stay in control.

“Thanks,” he smiled, “I’ll walk you out.”

Isak shushed him a couple of times, because he knew Jonas was probably still sleeping, and watched as Simen put on his shoes.

He was really handsome, Isak had to admit that, and he was nice and chill and funny. Maybe he should hang on to this one for a couple more nights.

“So, I had fun,” Simen said, again, and Isak grinned,

“Me, too. Maybe I’ll call you.”

“Something tells me you’re not going to do that,” Simen smirked as he opened the door.

“Well, I might.”

Simen leaned in to kiss him, all deep and dirty, and Isak didn’t mind. They made out lazily, until Isak suddenly heard someone clear their voice outside of his apartment.

He pulled back and saw-

“Even?!”

“Hi,” Even said, his lips pressed together as if he was in pain, his eyes trying to find spots to look at.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Isak asked, and Simen groaned beside him,

“Please don’t tell me you have a boyfriend!”

“What? No! Oh my _god_ , no. We work together, that’s all. Seriously, what are you doing here?” Isak asked Even again, eyes squinted in disbelief.

“Jonas invited me over for our study date,” Even said, jaw still a little clenched, staring at Simen now.

“Ugh, I hate Jonas,” Isak sighed, before he turned back to Simen,

“Sorry about him. I’ll call you, okay?”

“Do that,” Simen agreed, pulling Isak in for another deep kiss, his hand lying on Isak’s ass, and on any other occasion, Isak would have hated that kind of possessive behavior, but right now, in front of Even, he couldn’t help but enjoy it.

“Bye.”

He watched Simen go down the stairs, before he turned to Even, who was blushing and looking angry and annoyed,

“What?”

Even held up his hands,

“Nothing. Sorry. I didn’t- Jonas didn’t- I wasn’t-“

Isak just groaned, stepping back to let Even in,

“I’ll wake him up,” he said, walking back to Jonas’ room, while Even stood in the hallway awkwardly.

Isak was suddenly very aware of his messy hair, of the fact that he was shirtless and was only wearing a thin pair of sweat pants without any underwear, everything on perfect display for Even, and as he knocked on Jonas’ door, his annoyance grew,

“Jonas! Wake up, man, your date is here!”

“It’s not a date,” Even interrupted from down the hallway.

“You just called it a study date,” Isak said, rolling his eyes, banging on Jonas’ door with his fist until a very sleepy Jonas opened it,

“Jesus fucking Christ, what?”

“Even is here.”

“Oh,” Jonas said tiredly, rubbing a hand over his face, “sorry. I overslept.”

“Yeah, I see that,” Isak hissed.

“Don’t be pissed, next time bring a guy home who’s a little less vocal, and maybe I would have been able to sleep,” Jonas said, and Isak rolled his eyes,

“Whatever. I’m going back to bed.”

He turned around, watching how Even’s eyes hastily moved up to some point over his shoulder, as if he had been staring at his ass the entire time.

Isak just looked at him with a confused expression as he walked down the hall again, pointing at the cups in Even’s hands,

“Did you bring coffee for Jonas?”

“Yes?”

“Give it to me,” Isak said, and Jonas started whining behind him as he was pulling on a shirt,

“No, Isak, don’t do that to me.”

“Give it to me,” Isak repeated, still holding out his hand to Even, who shrugged, handing him the coffee,

“Sorry, Jonas. Seems fair.”

“Ugh,” Jonas groaned, stumbling into the kitchen, leaving Even and Isak all alone, standing in front of each other.

Isak was suddenly very aware of how naked his chest was and how blue Even’s eyes were.

“Nice sex hair, by the way,” Even grinned, actually winking at Isak.

“Fuck you,” Isak groaned, as he went back into his room, closing the door behind him.

He drank the weird Americano as he started watching some show on his laptop, ignoring the chatting and laughing from the kitchen.

He wondered what exactly it was that Even hated about him so much, we wondered if he actually found it weird or even disgusting that Isak liked casually hooking up with guys, he wondered if Even thought that he was boring, the only weird and annoying one of all of his friends, and he wondered why exactly he hated Even so much.

And as he thought about the fact that well, at least he didn’t hate those perfect blue eyes, he realized that-

_Oh fuck._

Even was becoming a problem.

 

* * *

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halla ♡ 
> 
> Thank all of you for your nice comments on the last two chapters! The story is almost done, so I hope I will manage to upload a little more frequently now!
> 
> Have fun with this chapter and let me know what you think ♡ 
> 
> alt er love ♡ be kind

* * *

 

“Do you think you can be, like, objectively good in bed or do you think it always depends on the person you’re doing it with?” Mahdi asked, mouth full of pizza.

“I think it’s a chemistry thing,” Jonas shrugged, “like you could do something that makes one girl – or boy, or person – go completely wild and then the next girl won’t even bat their eye at it.”

They were sitting in the cafeteria of the university, taking a break from studying and writing papers, while pretending to enjoy the cheap food.

After discussing the epic question of who would win in a fight, human against wolf (no weapons allowed), they were now discussing sex.

“There are some things you can be objectively good or bad at, though,” Isak said, poking around in his pasta.

“Like?” Magnus asked, obviously interested.

“I don’t know, like blowjobs.”

“Really? So it’s possible to be objectively good at giving blowjobs?” Magnus asked.

Isak nodded,

“Yeah, I think so. Of course different people like different things, but maybe what makes you objectively good at it is that you have a large repertoire the other person can sort of choose from.”

Magnus and Mahdi nodded along, while Jonas didn’t look quite as convinced,

“But sex isn’t like, a toy store you can choose from, right? You still need to have the right chemistry with a person.”

“I don’t think so. Not necessarily. I mean, if you’re both experienced, you’ll ask for what you want and the other person will be able to give it to you,” Isak said, leaning back to take a sip of coke.

“That’s dark, bro,” Magnus sighed, “you make it sound so unromantic.”

“Oh, hey, there’s Even,” Jonas suddenly called out, and Isak’s head snapped up,

“Don’t fucking-“

“Hey, Even! Hey! Join us!” Jonas already yelled across the fucking cafeteria, and Isak rolled his eyes so hard it almost hurt.

Working with Even still was annoying him to no end. Even’s playlists were still ridiculous, and while Isak didn’t have a particular problem with listening to Postgirobygget, he had a problem watching Even mouth all of their lyrics, dancing around behind the counter like some sort of handsome moron.

Even still made insulting comments about his hair whenever he got the chance, and whenever Isak tried to hide it under a snapback, Even would still comment on that (“Don’t tell me you’re hiding your sex hair under there, Valtersen.”)

Isak was just glad that Even hadn’t started calling him Issy yet, since he spent so much fucking time with Jonas, who called him by stupid nicknames constantly. Isak was very close to moving out by now, because every time he complained about Even, Jonas was sitting there with that fucking smug smile on his face, like he knew something Isak didn’t.

“I hate you!” he whispered when Even made his way over to them.

Jonas rolled his eyes,

“Grow up.”

“Hey guys,” Even smiled, greeting all of the guys with a handshake, before he paused, obviously not sure if he should or should not attempt to shake Isak’s hand as well.

Everyone was watching him, while Isak just kept staring at his plate, ignoring Even, until Even decided to ignore him back, sitting down at the table with his food.

“Well,” Jonas tried, “awkward moment,” he took a deep breath, “waiting for it to pass…”

He looked at Isak with a frown before smiling happily,

“And now it’s gone!”

Even chuckled at the joke, and Isak rolled his eyes, getting his phone out to text Sana.

“So, what were you guys talking about?” Even tried starting a conversation, unpacking what looked like a homemade lunch.

_Hipster._

“We were wondering if it is possible to be objectively good at sex, or if it’s more of a chemistry thing.”

Isak closed his eyes for a second. Why did Magnus have to be so damn open to complete strangers?

“Oh,” Even said.

“Yeah, Jonas says it’s more, like, chemistry, and Isak thinks it’s possible to be objectively good at certain things,” Magnus kept talking, and Isak sighed,

“Do we have to talk about that?”

“Why not? Since when do you have a problem talking about that?” Mahdi asked, and Jonas was grinning at him with that fucking smug face again, and Isak rolled his eyes,

“I have a problem talking about stuff like that with people who aren’t my _friends_ ,” he mumbled, turning his attention back to his phone.

Even huffed out a laugh,

“Really? You don’t have problem talking about it in a packed KB.”

“That’s not the same,” Isak said.

“He literally asked a guy if he had lube and condoms at home while the guy was trying to order coffee,” Even told the guys, who started laughing and yelling, staring at Isak in disbelief,

“What?! Please tell me you did not do that!”

Isak looked down on his phone again,

“I worked it into the conversation, so it wasn’t weird.”

Even just grinned and Isak hated him.

“So, what do you think, Even. Can you be objectively good at sex?” Mahdi asked again.

Even shrugged,

“No. I mean, if we’re talking about sex with another person, then it’s more about their needs than your own, right? So what makes it good is you caring for that person’s pleasure, and that’s going to be different with every person.”

Isak stared at him in disbelief. He wondered if Even was actually deeply religious or waiting until marriage or something, because that level of romantic couldn’t be _normal_.

Or, well, maybe Isak had just been deeply disillusioned by the endless hours he had spent on Grindr.

Once a guy had asked him for the color of his eyes, before asking for inches, which Isak had found to be pretty romantic.

“What?” Even asked, and Isak realized he had been staring at him.

He shrugged,

“Nothing. It’s just a little… I don’t know.”

“A little what?”

Jonas rolled his eyes,

“Isak just isn’t really that romantic, that’s all.”

“So you think if you care about your own pleasure more than about the other person’s pleasure, the sex won’t be good?” Isak asked, obviously confused, and he frowned when Even smiled at him, almost fondly,

“I don’t know, but I would like to think that sex is about two people and how they feel about each other, not just technical stuff.”

Isak huffed out a laugh,

“Whatever you say.”

“Maybe you’d believe me if you weren’t too selfish to actually care about the people you fuck.”

Isak shrugged,

“Maybe if you weren’t straight I’d show you how good sex can be without caring about each other.”

He was starting to realize what he had just said when he saw how the guys were staring at both of them. Mahdi and Jonas’ mouths open with shock, Magnus looking at them with an expression resembling the heart-eye emoji.

“I’m not straight,” Even said, leaning back, as if he was challenging Isak.

“You’re not?” Isak asked dumbly.

So much for his gaydar.

“I don’t really like labels, but I think pansexual is the one that would come close,” Even said, lifting his chin a little, ready to defend himself.

It broke Isak’s heart a little, that Even obviously felt like he had to defend himself for this. Isak had wondered if Even maybe had a problem with him and all of his hook-ups because he was straight and if not homophobic, then maybe just a little uncomfortable around him?

He realized now how insulting that assumption had been, because the fact that Even was assuming that Isak would make him feel anything but okay about this, it hurt. It actually hurt.

“Well,” Isak said, clearing his throat, “okay.”

Even frowned,

“Okay,” he said, nodding at Isak, who gave him a small nod back.

It literally felt like a little moment of peace between them, a little moment of agreement and silence and-

“Jesus Christ, how do any of your customers deal with this amount of sexual tension all the time?!” Magnus butted in, and Isak rolled his eyes, collecting his things to get up,

“Whatever man. I have to work on my paper. See you guys,” he said, smiling at them – all of them – before he made his way back to the library.

Isak knew that sexual tension was not at all what was going on between them.

Not at all.

He still felt… weird, somehow.

Like things were weirdly okay between them for the moment.

 

\--

 

“I don’t get how you are so offended by this,” Isak said, wiping the table clean.

“I’m not offended,” Even corrected him, waiting until Isak was done before he wiped the table dry.

“You so are,” Isak argued, “every fucking time I wear a snapback, you comment on it.”

“So? Every time I breathe, you comment on in,” Even snapped, drying the next table, him and Isak moving pretty in synch by now.

It wasn’t their first time closing up together after all, but Isak still felt like it was. Because Even was annoying him like he was on day one.

“Not true.”

“Please, it’s so true,” Even said, “I can’t chose a fucking song – any song – without you rolling your eyes like that. When I met you I thought you had some kind of health condition that made you roll your eyes every two minutes.”

“Because you only play bullshit pop music all the time.”

“What do you want me to play in a coffee house, exactly? Nas?”

“Nas?” Isak asked, stopping the wiping for a second.

Even stared at him in disbelief,

“You don’t know who Nas is?”

“Of course I know who Nas is,” Isak shrugged, before he moved on to the next table.

“Name one song,” Even challenged, looking at Isak with a grin.

“I don’t want to name a song, I don’t have to prove myself to you,” Isak argued, finishing up the last table before rinsing out his cloth in the sink.

“You don’t know any song by him,” Even grinned, walking up to Isak, handing him the towel to dry his hands.

“Either way, _Optimist_ by Jahn Teigen?” Isak tried to change the subject.

“What’s the big deal, so I like some shitty pop music. You are allowed to have some fun before you die, you know,” Even shrugged.

“I have plenty of fun,” Isak deadpanned.

Even nodded, biting the inside of his cheek, scanning Isak,

“Yeah. So you keep telling me.”

“I still don’t get why this gets you going so much,” Isak shook his head, “are you this uncomfortable with hooking up that me talking about it makes you cringe?”

Even shrugged,

“I’m not uncomfortable with you doing anything.”

Isak huffed out a laugh, tilting his head up a little to look at Even,

“What is it then? If your take on sex is that it can only be good when you’re deeply in love and stare into each other’s eye under the stars, be my guest. But I have a different take on it and you should grow the fuck up and stop judging me for it.”

Even was quiet, and it made Isak feel weird.

They fought, it was what they did, but he couldn’t fight if Even didn’t fight back.

He was just standing there, staring at Isak, and it confused him.

What the fuck was happening?

“Or do you find the guys I hook up with hot, is that it?” he kept going, because it was getting too weird, he had to say _something_ , because Even was still standing there, frozen into place, staring at him with a look so intense that it made Isak’s insides light up.

“Are you jealous because you would-“

Isak was cut off when Even took a step forward, pressing Isak against the counter, and kissed him.

It wasn’t a friendly kiss, not even close.

It was angry, almost aggressive, hard and unromantic, and it was heaven.

Isak reacted instantly, moving a hand up into Even’s hair, that fucking perfect hair, to pull on it, to fuck it up, to make Even have sex hair for a change.

He pushed his tongue into Even’s mouth, his other hand on Even’s shoulder, then on his lower back, pulling him closer, always closer.

Even’s hand was grabbing his hip, so hard that Isak could feel it in his whole body, while his other hand was on Isak’s neck, then on his cheek, his thumb moving over it harshly, almost pushing Isak’s mouth open, and Isak couldn’t help but moan at that.

He pushed even more, until his whole body was against Even’s, and he could just feel his whole body get warm, get hot, there was so much heat surrounding them, as they kept kissing, licking and biting and breathing in synch.

The edge of the counter was digging into Isak’s lower back, painfully by now, but he didn’t want to stop, not when Even’s lips felt so fucking good against his, when he could finally destroy that fucking perfect hairdo, when he could feel the warmth of Even’s body, heard him sigh and moan, when he could taste and smell him like that.

Eventually, Even pulled back a little, to take a breath, but then pulled back a little more, even though Isak was chasing his lips for a second.

The silence around them was getting ridiculously loud, and Isak didn’t know where else to look other than Even’s lips, Even’s face. He didn’t even pay attention to his expression, his emotions, he just took in details of his face. Scanning freckles, lingering on his eyebrow, making out the texture of his skin, analyzing the shade of blue of his eyes, spotting a small spot on his chin. He wanted to see this, he wanted to see everything.

He looked up when Even finally cleared his throat, stepping back even further,

“We- we should stop.”

His voice sounded raw and breathless and no, Isak didn’t want to stop.

“Or,” he took a deep breath, and before he could really think about it, he continued, “you could come back to my place.”

 

\--

 

The walk back to Isak’s place had been awkward, and climbing the stairs to his apartment had been awkward, and letting Even into his bedroom had been so over the top awkward, that Isak almost just threw him out right there and then.

But this sure as hell made up for it.

After standing around in Isak’s room awkwardly for a few seconds, Isak had pushed his body against Even’s again and just kissed him.

It got heated pretty quickly, maybe not as aggressive as it had been back at Kaffebrenneriet, but still heated.

Even knocked his snapback off of his head, burying a hand in his hair to pull,

“Fucking finally.”

“Finally what?” Isak asked breathless, before kissing Even’s neck, sucking on the skin there.

“Finally I get to fuck up your hair,” Even answered, pulling it again, making Isak moan.

“Go ahead,” Isak encouraged him, “want to move this to the bed?”

“Is that a line you use on every one of your Grindr guys?” Even asked, biting Isak’s neck.

“Nah,” Isak breathed, “only the hot ones. I just fuck the rest of them on my desk.”

“Charming,” Even said dryly, pushing his hands under Isak’s shirt.

Isak grinned, pulling his shirt off,

“Okay, here are my rules-“

“There are rules?” Even asked surprised, as Isak started pushing his hands under Even’s shirt as well.

“Yeah. I told you, sex is good when you ask for shit and then get it,” Isak explained, “So, first, I’m versatile, so if you have a preference, top or bottom, feel free to tell me, I’m down for both,” he pulled Even’s shirt off, “I give blowjobs, but you’re not allowed to come in my mouth,” he continued, “you are welcome to leave hickeys, if you don’t want me to leave any, tell me,” he started unbuttoning his pants, “feel free to be loud, and tell me if anything is not how you like it. And of course, safe sex only.”

“Wow. You have a lot of weird ass rules,” Even mocked, pushing Isak’s pants down, moving his hands over Isak’s ass, making him moan.

“Well, are you okay with all of them?” Isak asked, his hands moving over the waistline of Even’s jeans.

“Yeah,” Even breathed, pushing their lips together again, kissing Isak deeply, pushing his own pants down, then Isak’s.

They kissed while they struggled to get out of their jeans, until they were finally just in their boxers, and Even started pushing Isak down on the bed.

Isak went easily, locking his ankles behind Even’s body, pulling him closer as he started grinding their hips together.

“Prepare for the most unromantic and mind-blowing sex you’ve ever had,” he smirked up at Even, who shook his head,

“You’re so fucking full of yourself.”

Isak just grinned in agreement, reaching down to grab Even’s ass, making him moan.

Isak smirked, digging his fingers into Even’s ass again, as he lifted his chin up with a demanding look in his eyes, and it seemed to have the desired effect, because Even leaned down instantly, sliding his lips and tongue against Isak’s deliciously.

They kissed again, a little slower this time, and it wasn’t until Even’s mouth moved down over his neck to his chest that Isak realized that he had probably never spend this much time kissing someone.

He moaned when Even’s mouth started sucking on his nipple, while his hand moved down, cupping Isak over his boxers.

“Get naked,” Isak ordered, turning them around to sit back and take Even’s boxers off, his mouth watering when he finally saw Even naked, on perfect display right in front of him, every inch of him so fucking perfect that Isak was afraid he would pass out.

“You too,” Even said, reaching for Isak’s boxer’s as well.

They worked together until Isak’s boxers were finally gone, too, and then Even turned them around again, sitting between Isak’s legs to admire him for a second, his hands slowly stroking Isak’s shins and thighs, his eyes roaming over his whole body with lust and hunger- and maybe something else that Isak couldn’t really place.

“Come here,” Isak said, reaching for Even, who smiled at him, slowly crawling up Isak’s body, kissing his skin on the way up, until he kissed Isak again, deep and slow and loving, his hands stroking his whole body, setting every inch of skin on fire.

Isak moaned, almost getting lost in the feeling of getting worshipped like that, until Even moved down again, kissing Isak’s chest and then his abs, and then-

“Oh holy shit,” Isak moaned, lacing one hand into Even’s hair, squeezing his eyes shut as Even started sucking and licking.

Isak had gotten a lot of blowjobs in his life, but somehow, this felt better, and he just couldn’t help but look down, not wanting to miss anything, and moaned at the sight of Even’s perfect lips around his dick. Even looked delicious like that, and Isak moaned again when Even started to stroke his skin while he was slowly bobbing his head, playing with Isak’s nipples, stroking his thigh, cupping his balls.

“God, fuck,” Isak cursed, holding on to his duvet for dear life, because fuck, if he would come – and he could just fucking come right now – that would hardly seem like the mindblowing experience he had promised.

Even stopped right when Isak was about to push him away, and not having those lips around him seemed like both a curse and a blessing for Isak.

“Can I kiss you or is that against the rules?” Even asked as he kissed his way up Isak’s body.

“You can,” Isak panted, sighing when Even pressed his lips against Isak’s.

He didn’t normally like this, kissing was very nice but honestly, nobody tasted particularly good after giving head, but he didn’t mind to have Even’s lips on his. Pretty much anything Even would do to him with those lips would be perfect and Isak didn’t really mind it.

“Let me blow you,” Isak said breathlessly when Even was sucking on his skin, leaving bruises all over Isak’s neck.

“Shit, please,” Even agreed, and got off of him, laying down beside him.

Isak lost no time, bending over Even to get him into his mouth, and he had to stop himself from moaning when he finally took him in, sucking gently, licking his tip, tilting his head at a perfect angle.

Even’s loud moan showed him that he was doing good, so he started moving his hand to Even’s balls, bending down to suck on them, too, before he replaced his mouth with his fingers to keep sucking Even’s dick, Even’s moans sounding like music in his ears.

He loved giving head.

He loved the control that came with it, he loved the heaviness in his mouth, the technique of it, today he even liked the taste somehow.

He sucked on Even’s tip a little harder, fluttering his eyes open to look at Even, keeping the eye contact when he slowly sunk down.

“Shit, Isak, stop,” Even moaned, pulling away and pushing Isak off.

“Everything okay?” Isak asked, kissing Even’s inner thigh.

“Yeah, just- I was about to break your holy rule, you know,” Even said, still catching his breath.

Isak chuckled, tilting his head to press more kisses to Even’s inner thigh, slowly sucking on his skin before he pulled away a little,

“What do you want?”

“I just- I just want you,” Even said breathlessly, and Isak smirked,

“I could ride you if you’re up for it?” he suggested, moving his hand over Even’s dick slowly.

Yep, he would _definitely_ like to have that dick inside of him.

“Okay,” Even breathed, and Isak took the package of the condom, tore it open with his teeth before putting it in his mouth with a grin, winking at Even before he bend down, slowly rolling it down onto Even using just his mouth and tongue, enjoying how Even gasped at it, how he moaned and tried to control his breathing.

He sat back up when he was done, and Even let out a long, heavy breath,

“Show off.”

Isak chuckled, coating Even in lube before he straddled him, hand still on Even’s dick.

“Don’t you need- Shouldn’t I-“ Even started, obviously distracted by what was about to happen.

“Nah, that’s fine,” Isak shook his head, “I’ll just go slow.”

He positioned himself, using a little more lube before he slowly sank down, and they both moaned in synch when Even breached him.

Isak frowned when he saw Even sit up, first on his elbows and then fully. He loved riding others because it was a little impersonal, because he could choose the pace and the depth and the angle, and because he could focus on himself.

He stared at Even with big eyes when he was sitting up fully, rearranging his legs, making his dick slide out again, before he carefully put his arms around Isak, and tilted his head to kiss him.

Isak let him, kissed back deeply when he made Even breach him again, slowly sinking down, enjoying how Even’s warmth was everywhere, how his arms surrounded him, stroking his back, his ass, his shoulders, holding on to his neck as they kissed.

And they kissed and kissed.

Isak almost forgot to sink down on Even’s dick because Even was so fucking good at kissing.

He moaned when he was finally sitting on Even’s hips, and Even pulled back just a little, leaning their foreheads together, and Isak stared at him, his mouth slack, his eyes big, his skin reddened, and when he slowly lifted himself up to sink back down, he moaned just from looking at Even and all of that pleasure on his face.

“You feel so good,” Even breathed, leaning down a little to kiss Isak’s neck, and Isak just moaned in response, grinding his hips, moving a little bit, loving how Even seemed to be everywhere and still left him enough space to move at his own speed, in his own rhythm.

“You too,” Isak moaned back, probably a little too late for it to be an actual response to Even.

It was getting harder to breathe, he was moaning and panting with every thrust now, making high-pitched quick noises in his throat, and still he leaned in to kiss Even every other thrust, panting into his mouth hotly, enjoying how Even managed to lick into his mouth between hot breaths.

He was beyond impressed with how long Even was lasting, because he felt like he was about to explode, as he rode Even quicker, harder, better, the sound of skin against skin only overshadowed by their loud moans, their panting.

Isak’s thighs were burning up, his lungs were on fire from not getting enough oxygen, his whole body was flaming hot and his thoughts were narrowed down to _Even, Even, Even, Even_.

“Shit, Isak, oh my god,” Even moaned, pulling him a little closer, one hand on his ass, the other one tangled into his hair.

“Yeah, I know,” Isak panted, clinging to Even’s back, feeling himself getting desperate.

“Are you close?” Isak asked breathlessly, kissing Even again, hectic and wet, and Even nodded, moving his head to suck on Isak’s pulse point.

“Give me a hand,” Isak ordered, grabbing Even’s wrist and pushing it towards his dick, and Even went easily, taking Isak into his hand and started stroking, at just the right pace and with the perfect tightness, and Isak let his head fall back, moaning again.

“God, you’re so hot,” Even moaned, mouthing at Isak’s adam’s apple, breathing hotly against wet patches of skin, and Isak was this close to fucking losing his mind.

“I’m close,” he panted, forcing himself to look at Even again, pressing his lips against Even’s in an attempt of a kiss, but really they just breathed and moaned and panted into each other’s mouths.

Isak changed the angle a little again, his moans getting even louder when he felt Even hit his prostate dead on now, and Even twisted his hand so deliciously around Isak’s dick, that he felt like he was about to burst into flames.

“Oh my god,” he moaned, “Even, fuck, oh my god.”

Even tensed up, his hand on Isak’s back pulling him impossibly closer as he started coming, his forehead leaned against Isak’s, his hand tightening around Isak’s dick, and that was game over for Isak as well.

He grinded his hips against Even’s to make it better, make it last longer for both of them when he started coming, too, leaning in to press their lips together again, kissing Even through it, who still had it in him to multitask and keep stroking Isak _and_ tilt his head to lick into Isak’s mouth.

Isak moaned into his mouth, one hand tangled in Even’s hair, pulling a little, the other somewhere on his back, probably leaving scratches and marks.

When they were both done, it got silent for a couple of seconds, the only sound their hectic breaths, and the sliding of their lips against each other in their breathless attempts to kiss each other every other second.

Isak finally let out a long breath, carefully lifting himself off of Even, sitting back down afterwards to lean his head against Even’s shoulder, allowing himself to have a moment of weakness, allowing himself to chill and just breathe and be held.

Even kept stroking his back, kissing his neck and cheek, and Isak loved it.

When he finally had enough strength again, he slowly lifted his head, letting it sink against Even’s forehead as if he was too weak to hold it up all by himself, and Even chuckled, leaning in to kiss Isak again, way too slow and caring and loving.

Isak let him, moving his hand around in Even’s hair, enjoying making a mess, before he finally leaned back, getting off of Even to lie down, chest still heaving.

Even went to lie down beside him, turning his head a little to look at Isak,

“Wow. That was- you are-“ he stopped, turning his head to face the ceiling again, still a little breathless.

“Yeah,” Isak agreed, “you too.”

He took a couple of deep breaths, until he was able to trust his voice again,

“Can you hand me some tissues?”

“Oh! Sure,” Even said, taking the pack of tissues off of Isak’s night stand, pulling a couple of them out for himself before he handed Isak the whole pack.

They cleaned themselves up, Isak handed Even the tissues back, telling him to just throw them on the floor.

“So,” Even said, turning to lie on his side, “what’s the protocol for a night of meaningless sex with Isak Valtersen?”

Isak chuckled, rolling his eyes,

“What do you mean?”

“Do you want me to leave?” Even asked, and Isak was surprised he was asking this directly.

He thought about it for a second, throwing Even out now. It wouldn’t exactly be impolite, after Even had pretty much offered it, and it would be the best. Isak still couldn’t stand him after all, and part of him wanted Even out of his bed and out of his apartment.

But then there was this other part of him that felt like this night might not be completely over just yet.

“Nah,” he said after thinking about it for a second, “stay. If you’re up for it, we can go for round two.”

Even huffed out a laugh,

“Jeez, I forgot how young you are,” he sighed, “I’m going to need a couple of minutes for that.”

Isak laughed quietly,

“Pussy.”

“Ugh, fuck you,” Even sighed, waving Isak off, who grinned even wider, getting up to climb over Even, reaching for his sweat pants.

“What’s happening?” Even groaned, obviously annoyed at the interruption of his peace.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom and then I’ll go get you a bottle of water so you’ll stay hydrated. I heard old people need to be careful to drink enough.”

“You’re the worst fucking person in the world,” Even said with a fond smile, eyes closed again.

“Bite me,” Isak said, but he didn’t really sound pissed, he sounded more half-hearted, like he had to say something back.

“Will do,” Even promised, “hey, can you bring me something to eat, too?”

“I’m not your fucking butler, get your own food,” Isak grumbled, leaving his bedroom to go to the bathroom and to get a water bottle from the fridge.

He debated with himself for a whole minute before he grabbed one of Jonas’ granola bars and returned to his bedroom.

Even was still lying in Isak’s bed, and Isak wasn’t sure if he liked or despised that image.

He knew one thing, though.

Even looked fucking hot with sex hair.

 

* * *

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy ♡

* * *

 

 

When Isak woke up the next morning, he felt perfect.

He felt sore and exhausted and satisfied, and he stretched his body a little, just to feel all of that even more.

He heard Even move on the other side of his bed, and turned his head to look at him.

Even looked incredibly peaceful when he slept, so nice and kind and pretty, and Isak almost wanted him to never wake up, so that he would look this soft forever, instead of turning into that annoying, venom spitting idiot that Isak hated so much.

He almost reached over to move his fingers over Even’s face, but he stopped himself, shaking his head at that weird ass idea.

When Even slowly blinked his eyes open, Isak realized that he had no idea what to do or how to treat him. Normally, when they saw each other, they were pretty much already annoyed with each other, but Isak couldn’t really see going back to their hateful banter when they woke up next to each other.

And he started to realize that this had been such a fucking mistake.

“Morning,” Even mumbled, looking at Isak with an equally confused expression.

“Morning,” Isak said quietly, turning to lie on his back, staring up to a spot on the ceiling.

“Um,” Even cleared his throat, “Did you sleep well?”

“Oh,” Isak said, “Yes. Yeah. I did.” He paused, before turning his head to Even, “You?”

“Yeah, um, I slept well, too,” Even nodded, giving Isak an awkward smile, “your mattress is really comfortable.”

“Mhm. Yeah, it was on sale when I got it,” Isak nodded, wincing a little as he said it.

This was easily the most awkward conversation he had ever had. Ever.

They were quiet for a few moments, before Even started to shift again,

“So, um, I have to work, in like an hour,” he said, securing the duvet safely around his waist as he sat up.

“Oh,” Isak answered, “I didn’t know you worked today.”

“Um, yeah, I always take the early shifts on Thursdays, because I have, um, something afterwards and it’s a good fit,” Even nodded, “like, appointment-wise it is a smart shift. You know.”

“Yeah. Great.”

“When do you work again?” Even asked, still not moving to get up, eyeing Isak carefully.

“Tomorrow afternoon,” Isak said, “I always go to the library before I come there, so I have sort of a time limit, you know, I always set myself goals like, to write at least a page before going into work. Something like that.”

Even nodded, smiling at Isak,

“Oh, yeah. That’s really smart.”

“Mhm.”

“So, um. Could you- I should-“

“I won’t, um, look,” Isak promised, blushing a little as he turned around to stare at the wall as he heard Even mumble a Thank you, then he heard him get up and pull on his clothes.

There was so much tension in the room that it almost made Isak forget about that heavy, satisfied feeling in his body.

This was definitely not what he had wanted. He didn’t know exactly what the purpose of this nonsense had been, but he realized that he would rather go back to Even calling him stupid names and playing Optimist on full volume than to be this weird around each other.

“I’m done,” Even announced, and Isak turned around, shuffling on his bed to reach for his sweatpants, pulling them on under his duvet while Even stared at his phone, typing a response to someone, or just acting like it, Isak didn’t really know.

“I’ll walk you out?” Isak smiled, walking to the door, before turning around to Even,

“Let me just check if Jonas is up yet,” he said quietly, “I just don’t want him to know about this just yet. If it’s okay.”

“Yeah, no. So, you’re not going to tell anybody about this, then?” Even asked, while Isak opened his door to check if the coast was clear.

“Um, I don’t know,” he whispered when they went out into the hallway, “maybe. Okay, come on.”

Even pulled on his shoes while Isak opened the door, and then they stood there, Isak staring to the ground, while he felt Even stare at him.

“So, I’ll see you Saturday at work?” Even asked, attempting to smile.

“Yeah, sure. Thanks for last night,” Isak said more out of reflex, he always thanked whoever he threw out in the morning for the prior night.

Even smiled,

“Yeah, thank you, too.”

Isak chuckled, clearing his throat again,

“Yeah. Um, well, bye.”

“Bye, Isak,” Even said, walking out, only to turn around at the first step of the stairs,

“By the way,” he said, full on grinning now, “Nice sex hair.”

Isak laughed and gave him the finger, closing the door with a smile.

 

\--

 

Normally, Isak didn’t really think about the guys he went home with much. Sure, sometimes he thought about how hot they had been, or how much fun the night had been. Sometimes he thought about calling one of them for a repeat, and thought about if that would be a smart move or not.

But that was pretty much it.

He didn’t really think about what they were doing or how they were feeling, and it annoyed Isak to no end that Even seemed to be the big exception in that rule.

Of course it wasn’t new to Isak to care about someone else, he had had a boyfriend back when he had still been in school, and then another boyfriend in the summer break before starting university, so it wasn’t like he had never been in love or even in a relationship.

But he normally didn’t care about his one night stands, and after all, that was all Even was.

Only that Even was pretty much the first guy Isak had slept with that he had not only known before they had meaningless sex, but would have to keep seeing on a regular basis afterwards.

That was probably why it was so weird.

Still, Isak felt grumpy and annoyed and just pissed, mostly at himself, partly for letting it happen in the first place, but mostly for thinking about it way too much now, ruining a perfectly nice night by simply overthinking it afterwards.

He was still deep in thought when he locked up Kaffebrenneriet on Friday evening, sun still shining brightly even though it was pretty late, and he let out a surprised gasp when he suddenly saw Even, looking so nervous, standing next to the door Isak was locking,

“Hi.”

“Hi,” Isak answered, looking at Even for a second.

He looked good. His hair was a little more messed up than Isak was used to, and he wore shorts and a plain white T-Shirt. He looked really good.

“Um, can I talk to you for a second?”  Even asked, looking a little scared, almost as if he was expecting Isak to say no.

“Yeah, sure,” Isak nodded, running a hand through his hair as they walked down to the river, sitting down on a bench in the evening sun.

Even was fiddling with his fingers, until he finally laced them together, looking down on them,

“I wanted to talk about the other night.”

“Okay,” Isak said, cracking his knuckles.

“I just- I don’t know how to say this, but-“

“I know,” Isak interrupted him, “It was a mistake.”

Even looked at him for a second, and Isak couldn’t quite tell if he was relieved that Isak had said it first of if he was pissed. But then Even nodded slowly, looking down on his hands again,

“Yeah.”

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was a really amazing night. Really. But it’s just- it was just physical, right, and it’s not smart to start something like that with people you work with and- I don’t know, I’m sorry, I guess, for letting that happen.”

Even shrugged,

“You don’t have to apologize. I mean, it takes two.”

“Yeah, no, I know. I’ve just been thinking about it, and I don’t want it to get weird between us. Or, like, even weirder than it already was,”

Isak grinned, running a hand through his hair.

Even chuckled,

“Absolutely.”

“So we’re on the same page? One time thing, no regrets, and we don’t have to talk about it ever again?” Isak asked, endlessly relieved.

He had been worried that this would be easier. Weirdly, talking about something actually serious and important seemed to be easier than talking to Even about pretty much any other subject.

“Yes,” Even agreed, “completely same page.”

Isak let out a relieved breath,

“Great.”

“So, you’ll go back to hating me now?” Even asked, and for some reason it didn’t sound as teasing and joking as Isak was used to.

“I don’t _hate_ you,” he corrected quietly.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Even grinned, getting up, “I’m going to head home. I’ll see you tomorrow at work, right?”

“Right,” Isak nodded, smiling at him.

Even gave him a quick wave before turning around, walking a few steps, before Isak just had to stop him,

“Even?!”

“Yeah?”

“Do you agree with me now? That sex doesn’t have to be romantic?”

“I don’t think I do,” Even smiled, pushing his hands into his pockets, tilting his head to the side a little.

Isak frowned,

“What do you mean? You had good sex, right? With someone you don’t care about. I was right.”

Even just shrugged,

“Keep telling yourself that,” he repeated, before we walked away, and Isak chuckled as he shook his head.

What an idiot.

 

\--

 

“Good morning,” Even said when Isak came into work the next morning.

Optimist by Jahn Teigen was playing, and Even gave Isak an annoyed look,

“You’re late again. But at least no sex hair or yoghurt stains I see.”

“Leave me alone,” Isak mumbled, but he grinned to himself a little bit.

It felt good that things obviously didn’t really change between them. They still found the same stuff annoying and they still provoked each other. Only now, Isak realized, they were starting to do it for fun a little bit more.

Even still wasn’t his favorite person and Isak knew they had zero in common and would never be friends – but it still felt nice to tease each other in a funny way, rather than a hateful way.

Most of the time, they just didn’t talk at all, like they did before, but Isak didn’t feel like the silence was as tense and forced anymore.

Maybe fucking their brains out had been exactly what they needed to make his summer job bearable.

 

\--

 

“Maybe you should just hand in that paper and be done with it.”

“Maybe you should mind your own business,” Isak snapped, still reading through the pages in front of him.

It was almost time to close up, the coffee house was completely empty, and so Isak had decided to take some time to read his paper for what felt like the thousand’s time.

“You sort of make it my business when you choose to read it during your work hours,” Even shot back, playing around on his phone.

“Oh yeah? Then how come I don’t get a say in those shitty playlists you play during ‘work hours’,” Isak said, using air quotes, “all the goddamn time?”

“You’re going to end up liking Optimist, Valtersen,” Even promised, leaning back a little, and Isak just snorted instead of answering, continuing to read his paper, until Even interrupted him again,

“What’s your paper about?”

Isak looked up and couldn’t help but be irritated.

An honestly interested, nicely asked question. He couldn’t help but be a little suspicious, almost as if he was preparing for some sort of trap.

“It’s… about wind energy.”

Even looked at Isak, still looking interested, as if he expected Isak to go on.

“About… well, there are two types of wind turbines that mainly differ in size and I sort of tried to calculate which of them are more efficient under certain, um, conditions.”

“What kind of conditions?”

“Well, we do want to know which one produces more energy, but then you do have to take everything else into account. Like how much it costs to produce and ship them and set them up, and how much CO2 you produce doing that. If one of them produces more energy when the wind is stronger, or how they function under different weather conditions. All sorts of things.”

Even smiled,

“Sounds pretty complex. So did you find that one type is more efficient or does it depend on all of those conditions?”

“It depends on most of the conditions. There are both advantages and disadvantages to both of them, of course,” Isak said, huffing out a humorless laugh, “Which isn’t such a great answer to a certain research question, to just answer ‘It depends’.”

Even shrugged,

“Yeah, but that’s why science is so complicated. Or, like, if there were easy answers to stuff like that, we wouldn’t need science and smart people like you to calculate stuff like that.”

“Mh.”

“I don’t think that makes a paper bad, saying that it depends. You still found stuff out, sort of, right? Complex questions just always have complex answers.”

Isak took a deep breath,

“Yeah,” he said, leaning back a little, looking at Even, “that’s true, I guess. Thanks.”

“Sure.”

Isak smiled a little, amazed that they had just _communicated_. Like normal people. Maybe Even – hot, good-in-bed Even – wasn’t such an idiot after-

Isak interrupted his own thoughts when Optimist started playing on Even’s playlist and rolled his eyes, groaning loudly,

“I hate that fucking song!”

“I know,” Even grinned, grabbing his key to close up the shop.

“And I hate you,” Isak added, which only made Even laugh.

Isak sighed.

Did he, though?

 

\--

 

Isak groaned when he heard the doorbell ring. He had just gotten home from the library and was glad to have some time to do nothing for a change, and he really didn’t need anyone interrupting his quiet little me-time.

He rolled off of the couch in their very minimalistic living room, getting up to go answer it when it rang a second time.

He pressed the buzzer, opening the door and leaning his whole body and then his head against the door frame while he scrolled through his Instagram feed, waiting for whoever was annoying him to climb the stairs.

And he rolled his eyes when he saw that it was Even,

“What are you doing here?” he asked, and realized how exhausted he sounded.

“Um, hi,” Even greeted him, staring at him for a second, and Isak was waiting for him to comment on his sweatpants or his shirt or his hair, but Even just said nothing, so Isak shrugged,

“Hi,” he said, shrugging again as he repeated, “what are you doing here?”

“Oh, um, Jonas said I could come by. We’re almost done with our papers and wanted to talk about the conclusions and stuff,” Even said, squirming a little, obviously embarrassed about it.

Isak groaned,

“Jonas isn’t here yet.”

“Oh,” Even repeated, and they stared at each other for a second, both not sure what to do, before Isak sighed, opening the door a little wider, stepping back to let Even in,

“Come in, I’ll call him.”

“Thanks. I can leave, though, if you want.”

“Nah, I think he’s on his way anyway. Hold on,” Isak said, putting his phone up to his ear to call what used to be his friend and was now proving to be Isak’s worst nightmare.

“Hey,” Jonas answered, sounding a little breathless.

“Hi, your playdate is here. Where the fuck are you?” Isak asked, not caring that Even could hear how annoyed he sounded.

“Oh, yeah, I got hold up. I’ll be there in like ten minutes though,” Jonas promised.

“Can’t you just meet some other time?” Isak tried, “can’t be that important if you forgot about it.”

“I didn’t, the trams are just fucking with me! Please just try not to kill each other, okay?”

“You’re the worst,” Isak simply told him.

“So you keep saying,” Jonas sighed.

“Yeah, maybe consider working on that,” Isak snapped before hanging up, looking at Even with an annoyed expression,

“So. Um. I don’t know. You want some water or something?”

“I can wait outside if you want,” Even offered, and Isak was even more annoyed with how much of a deal something this unnecessary seemed to be for them. Well, maybe just for him.

“Don’t be stupid. I survive like three shifts a week with you,” he said, walking into his and Jonas’ kitchen to get Even a glass of water.

They stood around for a few seconds, before Even shrugged,

“You don’t have to keep me company. You can just- like, keep doing whatever you’re doing.”

“I was actually watching some Netflix,” Isak admitted.

Even smiled, making a gesture that seemed to say ‘Carry on, then’, and Isak nodded, walking out of the kitchen to return to the living room, turning around in the doorframe,

“You coming?”

 

\--

 

“If there’s one thing I don’t get in TV shows and movies, it’s shower scenes,” Isak said, tilting his head a little.

Even frowned,

“Why is that?”

“In every shower scene, the person is facing the water. How many people do you know that face the water when they shower?”

Even laughed,

“I think some people do that.”

“I know nobody who does that. At least not for that long. To wash your face, sure, but if you just stand there and relax or whatever, you’d face away from the shower.”

Even shrugged,

“I think most shower scenes are supposed to tell you something, right? Like, you wouldn’t show how someone showers just to show it. So it’s probably like an inner conflict or something that needs to be brought across, and it just looks cooler that way. They look deep in thought and desperate and stuff. Plus, you know, with women it’s easier to film that way, so you don’t have to build in milky glass so you won’t see their boobs.”

Isak thought about that for a second, before he shook his head,

“Nah, I still don’t buy it. I can have inner conflicts while I wash my hair, I don’t have to lean into the water like that to have a shower epiphany or whatever.”

Even stared at him for a second, and then a second too long, before he cleared his throat,

“Well, not everyone can multitask like that.”

“Idiot,” Isak said quietly.

They were quiet for a few moments, before Isak shifted on the couch, stretching out his body even more, sighing a little as he did,

“So what exactly do you study? Politics or philosophy?”

“Media studies, I specialize in directing.”

“Oh,” Isak said, nodding.

He realized that it may have been a little weird that he didn’t even know that. He slowly realized how little he actually knew about Even, given the fact that he spend more time with him than with Jonas at this point. He just knew that annoying things Even did at work, he knew how he looked when he was about to mock Isak for his hair or his clothes, he knew his playlists and how he raised an eyebrow when he was about to tease Isak for something. He knew that he was crazy good in bed and he knew how fucking good he had looked naked.

But he didn’t know where Even lived, he didn’t know who his friends were, what he studied, why he worked at the coffee house. He didn’t even know how old he was or if he had any hobbies, if he had a family or roommates.

All they ever talked about was pretty much things they hated about each other.

Not that Isak was trying to change that, he was actually pretty comfortable with that relationship by now, the teasing and the banter and all of that, but it still seemed weird.

“Did you… always want to do that?” Isak asked, looking over to Even.

Even shrugged, still looking at the TV,

“Yeah, pretty much. I was always pretty fascinated with film-making, and I just thought that directing was the most interesting about that. I like photography as well. I don’t know, I didn’t have the grades to study something like you do, so it seemed like a good pick.”

“Yeah,” Isak nodded, looking back at the TV as well.

“Did you always want to study biochemistry and physics?”

“I still don’t know if that’s what I want, to be completely honest. I always had the grades for it, and I always liked science in school. I thought about studying astronomy, but I am pretty passionate about research. There are a lot of interesting fields.”

“Like?”

“Reusable energy, for example. But I also think medical research is pretty amazing, like, seeing how different medication would work and stuff like that. I just feel like knowledge is so valuable and we could have so much more of it, somehow.”

“That’s true,” Even agreed, “that’s really cool that you want to contribute to society like that.”

“Hey guys!” Jonas greeted, walking into the living room, a little bit out of breath, before he froze, looking back and forth between Isak and Even,

“Oh my god, was that bonding I just walking in on?”

“No!” Isak said quickly, getting up, reaching for the remote to turn off the TV.

Jonas looked at him with that fucking smug smile again, and Isak just sighed,

“I’ll be in my room. Have fun studying.”

“Bye, Isak,” Even said with a smile, and Isak just nodded at him, before he went to his room, leaning against the door when he had shut it, closing his eyes for a second.

He had made his peace with Even being an asshole and with hating him.

He had made his peace with finding Even hot and he had made his peace with the fact that they had fucked.

He had even made his peace with Optimist.

But he couldn’t seem to make peace with the fact that Even might actually be a decent guy.

 

* * *

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank all of you for reading and for being so nice and supportive!
> 
> Writing this has been so much fun and I'm glad to see that some of you have fun reading it as well!
> 
> Let me know what you think and if there is anything you desperately want me to write, dm me on twitter - this story wasn't my original idea, but one of yours, and it has been so much fun to write and read and talk about, so requests do work sometimes!
> 
> All the love in the world to the lovely Carola <3
> 
> alt er love

* * *

  

“I started watching Parks and Recreation,” Isak said, handing Even the next cup from the dish washer.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. I finished watching unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, so I needed something new.”

“How do you like it so far?” Even asked, putting the cups back into the shelf.

“Not too bad. Andy is really funny,” Isak admitted, grinning.

“Yeah, he really is. And the actor is a genius. Some of his lines are actually improvised, that’s pretty amazing.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty good at that,” Even said.

“I wasn’t sure if I liked the, um, filming style, if that’s the right word. Like, the fact that they talk to the camera and things like that, but it’s pretty funny so far.”

“Yeah, you have to get used to that,” Even admitted, “but I’m happy you like it.”

“Yeah, it’s good.”

Isak frowned when a new song came on; _Bare min_ by Morgan Sulele for crying out loud,

“Are you serious with that song?”

“It’s a cute summer song,” Even said, blushing a little, busying himself with the cups on the shelf, “don’t you like the lyrics? Listen.”

“ _Say whatever you want, as long as you are only mine_?” Isak quoted, shaking his head, “what a cliché.”

Even seemed to be… disappointed? for a second, before he shrugged, holding up his hands, “Okay, give me one song,” he demanded, “one song that you like that I can put on my coffee house playlists without you bitching about it.”

Isak shrugged,

“There are a few songs on there that I like. _Sommer på jorda_ is fine.”

Even rolled his eyes, walked over to his phone and clicked on it,

“There. Happy?”

Isak wasn’t able to answer, because the door opened and a customer came in. Isak glanced over at Even when he realized who it was, and sadly, Even seemed to remember him as well, because for some reason he was standing completely frozen behind the coffee machine, clenching his jaw.

Simen walked up to the counter, the guy Isak had taken home because he had looked so much like Even.

Now that he had gotten close and personal with both of them, though, Isak realized how much he had been kidding himself. Simen looked nothing like Even, and if Isak remembered correctly, he wasn’t half as good at certain, well, _things_ , than Even was.

But Isak knew he shouldn’t go there, he shouldn’t relive _that_ night.

Especially not now.

“Hey! Isak!” Simen said happily as he approached the counter, “I had no idea you worked here.”

Isak smiled back, clearing his throat,

“Yeah. Just a few shifts a week, you know. What can I get you?”

“Iced coffee?”

“Of course,” Isak said, eyeing Even, who slowly started preparing the drink, staring at Simen while he did it.

“So…” Simen started, leaning against the counter, and Isak knew this would get awkward, “you never called me, you know.”

“Yeah,” Isak said, shrugging helplessly, “I’ve been really busy with university shit and working and stuff. Sorry.”

“No hard feelings,” Simen smiled, and Isak let out a relieved breath, “but now that I ran into you… what are you doing tonight?”

Isak thought about it.

There was absolutely no reason not to hook up with Simen tonight. He hadn’t had Even’s _qualities_ , but he had been perfectly nice, hotter than average, he was loud in bed, which Isak liked, he had a very talented tongue and Isak remembered that he did give good head.

For some reason, he didn’t just feel Simen’s eyes on him, but also Even’s, and even though he would have loved a situation like this a few weeks ago to annoy Even, right now it felt weird.

But he had to get together with another guy some time, since it had been almost two weeks since he and Even had spent the night together, and it was stupid to feel weird about hooking up again.

“I’m free,” Isak heard himself say, “you want to come by around nine?”

“Yeah, sounds great,” Simen beamed, smiling at Even who handed him his drink, “see you tonight?”

“Yes, see you tonight,” Isak smiled, watching Simen walk out, before he stared down at his hands, not exactly sure what to say to Even.

He hated this, he hated awkward silence.

“Wow, I was starting to think you were losing your touch,” Even teased, and Isak loved him.

For a very brief second, for not making this weird, for rescuing them, making this fun again, instead of awkward.

“My touch is perfect,” Isak answered with raised eyebrows, “he is basically already in love with me.”

“I saw that,” Even agreed, “he’s the one that was at your place when I came by, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Is he any good in bed?” Even asked, and Isak turned to him, surprised that Even would ask something like that.

“Um, yeah. Sure.”

“Better than me?” Even kept teasing, bumping his shoulder against Isak’s.

“Thought we agreed not to talk about that,” Isak scolded, moving away from Even a little to get more cups out of the dish washer.

Even grinned to himself, a smug, happy grin, and Isak frowned when he saw, shaking his head,

“What?”

“Nothing,” Even shrugged, “you just didn’t say yes.”

 

* * *

 

**unknown number**

**17:09**

hi isak

is it okay if you close up tomorrow?

 

who is this?

 

even

 

how did you get my number?

 

jonas

 

oh my fucking god

and to think that idiot used to be my best friend

 

?

everyone from KB has your number

it is on that list of phone numbers that hangs in our breakrooms and what not

 

I don’t mind that you have it

I just mind that Jonas gave it to you

 

I don’t see the point

 

well I do

 

whatever floats your boat valtersen

so can you close up tomorrow

 

yes

 

thank you

you can play your own playlist while you clean the tables then

 

finally

how come I don’t get to play my music when you’re there

 

 

I work there longer than you

 

and I get paid more than you do

 

?

 

line from 8 mile?

no?

don’t you study film or whatever

 

yeah

that doesn’t mean that I know every movie by heart

 

that’s disappointing

 

so you like 8 mile?

 

yes

why

 

no reason

it’s actually not the worst

 

wow did we just agree on something

 

first parks and rec and now this

told you we’re friends, valtersen

 

keep dreaming

see you tomorrow

 

<3

 

ugh

 

* * *

 

 

“So, what’s going on with you these days?” Mahdi asked, reaching for the plate of nachos.

“Not much. I handed in my paper, so now there’s only one left. My mom is doing okay, too, I visited her with my sister the other day. I also had dinner with my dad, which was only mild torture, so definitely an improvement,” Isak summarized, playing around with the bottle of beer he was holding.

Mahdi nodded along, obviously attempting to say something when Magnus butted in,

“How’s work? Are you still hot for that blonde dude? Even?”

“I’m not hot for him,” Isak said, trying to sound patient.

“A week ago I walked in on the two of them bonding,” Jonas said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Dude!” Magnus cried, “you can’t start a sentence like that, I was sure you’d say you walked in on them fucking!”

Mahdi nodded, reaching for another nacho,

“Yeah, Jonas, not cool. Now everyone is disappointed. Thank you for ruining our night.”

“Be mad at Isak, it’s not my fault he’s not banging Even. I’d gladly walk in on that.”

“Ew, dude, that is creepy,” Isak said, wincing.

“I just mean because I’d be so happy for the two of you,” Jonas explained.

“Yeah, well, be happy on your side of the door,” Isak suggested, “and I really don’t know what you’re all obsessing about. I don’t even like the guy, why would I fuck him?”

“As if not liking someone had ever stopped you before,” Jonas said dryly, and Isak rolled his eyes, pointing a nacho at Jonas,

“Why am I friends with you again?”

“Because I’m the only person that likes you for you, and not for your curls or abs or dick,” Jonas smiled, leaning over the table to give Isak a dramatic kiss on the cheek.

Isak chuckled, pushing him away playfully,

“That may be true.”

“So, other question, we wanted to throw a party next week, and since we’re going to see Even in the library tomorrow, we wanted to ask him if he wants to come. If that’s cool with you,” Mahdi asked, and Isak shrugged,

“That’s fine.”

“Are you sure?” Jonas asked, eyebrows raised.

“I may not be Even’s biggest fan, but I survived a lot of hours working with him. I can handle one party. Besides, I don’t have to talk to him if I don’t want to, right?”

“Right,” Jonas agreed, and Isak wanted to slap that smug expression off of his face.

 

* * *

 

**Even Optimist Bech Næsheim**

**22:01**

 

your friends invited me to their party next weekend

 

congratulations

 

I meant is it okay for you if I go

 

since when do you need my permission

 

it’s called being polite

 

since when are you polite to me

 

you are so fucking annoying

can I come to that fucking party without you acting like a fucking child or not

 

aha

there’s the even I know

 

you’re exhausting

 

fine you can come

you’re not allowed to play music though or I will fight you

 

oooooptimist

jeg vet det går braaaaa til sist

 

fuck you

see you tomorrow at work

 

yes

there will be an iced coffee waiting for you when you get here

 

see you’re not all terrible

 

and a very special song will be waiting as well

 

you’re terrible after all

see you tomorrow

 

see you

 

* * *

 

 

“I noticed you’re not working the last two weeks of July. Nice one, by the way.”

Isak smiled, finishing to pour milk into the espresso, creating a pretty decent leaf on top of the drink, handing it to Even who handed it over to the girl waiting at the end of the counter.

Isak checked if there was anyone else waiting in line, but since there wasn’t, he leaned against the counter a little bit,

“Yeah, me and the guys are going on vacation.”

“Cool. Where?”

“Portugal. Jonas wants to try out surfing and the coast is supposed to be really awesome. We’re going to rent a car and drive around a little.”

“Sounds really good.”

Isak smiled, taking a sip of his iced coffee,

“It was actually the reason I took this job, you know, because I didn’t have enough money to go.”

“Oh. Well, good call then.”

“Yeah, it isn’t the worst job ever,” Isak dared to admit, gently kicking Even’s foot with his own.

Even smiled fondly, before he straightened his back, starting to wipe around at the coffee machine,

“So, should I bring a present to Magnus’ and Mahdi’s party?”

“Hell no,” Isak shook his head, “It’s not anyone’s birthday or whatever.”

“Yeah, but they invited me, wouldn’t it be nice if I brought something?”

“You can bring your own alcohol,” Isak suggested, “they’re pretty bad at getting the right amount. So either we’ll be out of beer around ten, or we’ll have free beer to drink for the next half year. There’s no in between.”

“Good to know,” Even nodded, “but I don’t really drink.”

Isak shrugged,

“Okay. They’re always short on other stuff, too, so if you like soda or coke or something, maybe bring that, then.”

Even smiled,

“Okay. Thank you for the heads up. Is your new boyfriend coming?”

“Who are you talking about?” Isak asked with a frown.

“That guy that came by the other day. You hooked up with him at least twice. I mean, I don’t know your rules, but isn’t that some sort of relationship then?” Even asked.

“The rules are that I do whatever I want as long as I feel good with it and have fun,” Isak explained, “and I don’t like to label my ‘relationships’ if you want to call them that.”

Even nodded,

“I think that’s really cool, actually. That you manage to make your own rules.”

Isak frowned. Even being nice to him was still a little weird,

“What do you mean?”

“I just think that it’s cool that you just do what you want and have a good time. It sounds like that really works for you, and I think it’s really brave when people do what makes them happy without caring about other people’s opinions.”

Isak stared at him for a second. He wondered if Even secretly wanted something like that, too, if he considered himself not brave enough or whatever, but before he could ask, they were interrupted by a customer.

Isak still managed to give Even a thankful smile, and Even looked at him like that was more than enough.

 

\--

 

The party was amazing. Isak was already a little drunk, and so was Eva, and Isak _loved_ partying with her. They normally ditched Jonas about half an hour into the party, letting him rant about capitalism in the kitchen with some other students, and they sneaked off, doing shots and talking about guys.

They checked out guys and laughed and made dirty jokes and danced together. Sometimes people thought that they were a couple, because they had no reason not to touch each other and be tactile, and Isak remembered that one party, where some guy had went into the kitchen to tell Jonas that his girlfriend was cheating on him, when Eva and Isak had danced together.

“Uh, he is hot,” Eva shouted into Isak’s ear, pointing at a guy across the room.

Isak shrugged,

“He’s a little short. And I don’t like hairy chests. And to be honest, he’s not that good in bed.”

Eva’s jaw dropped and he bumped her shoulder against his,

“Unbelievable!”

Isak grinned, taking another sip of his vodka, pointing at another guy,

“He looks good.”

“He reminds me of Chris.”

“Who is Chris?”

“Penetrator Chris?! Back from Nissen?” Eva screamed into his ear, doing another shot.

“Oh, yeah,” Isak laughed, “I still can’t believe that they called themselves the penetrators and everyone just sort of went with it. Like, why wasn’t there anyone to tell them how fucked up that was?”

Eva laughed,

“I know, right? Do you miss school? Like, the time back at Nissen?”

“Sometimes,” Isak admitted, “but things are better now, right? We can drink legally and we get to choose which classes we go to.”

“Yeah, and the best things that we had back in Nissen are still around, right?” Eva smiled, leaning in to give Isak a kiss on the cheek.

Isak smiled, pecking her forehead when she pulled away, and Eva leaned into him, before she suddenly gasped,

“Jesus, look at him. He is fucking gorgeous! Tell me why I’m in a committed relationship again?”

Isak laughed, following her gaze and saw Even.

He did look gorgeous.

He was wearing a plain white shirt and a flannel shirt over it.

His hair looked better than ever.

But something didn’t seem quite right.

Isak knew he was trying not to, but he did know Even by now. They spent so much time together, and Isak knew how Even looked when he was happy, he knew how he looked when he had a bad day, he knew all of his expressions and he could just tell that something was wrong right now.

Even looked distracted. He looked sad.

“Don’t you think he’s hot?” Eva asked, “He is completely your type, Issy, like, a thousand percent.”

Isak chuckled, squeezing her arm,

“Maybe. I have to go to the bathroom, why don’t you find Jonas and I’ll be right there?”

Eva pouted,

“Fine. I’ll spend time with my boyfriend.”

“What a sacrifice,” Isak teased, and they pecked each other’s lips, before Eva went to the kitchen, and Isak started moving through the masses of people and towards Even.

He didn’t quite know what the fuck he was doing, but somehow he felt like he had to check on him.

There were so many people and so many bodies, and Isak became quite annoyed as he was trying to move between them, until he finally reached the other side of the room.

Even was leaning against the wall, he seemed a little distant, and he hadn’t noticed Isak yet.

He looked so irritated, sad, and Isak tried to ignore what that did to him.

“Hey,” he said when he was standing in front of Even, gently grabbing Even’s arm, squeezing lightly to let him know he was there.

He wasn’t sure if Even maybe had taken something or whatever.

Even looked up, faking a happy smile,

“Hey!”

“Are you okay?” Isak asked, leaning in a little to make sure Even could hear him.

Even nodded,

“Yeah, perfect.”

Isak frowned. He wasn’t sure if this was his place to, well, do something, to say something, but he couldn’t just leave, so he leaned in again,

“I wanted to get some fresh air, you want to come?”

“Really?” Even asked, and Isak nodded, grabbing Even’s hand and ushered him out of the room, and then out of the apartment.

They went outside, and Isak guided them to a small wall outside, sitting down on it. Even sat down next to him, and he let out a long breath.

“You sure that you’re okay?” Isak asked again.

Even shrugged,

“Why do you care, shouldn’t you already fuck some guy in the bathroom or something?”

A couple of weeks ago, a comment like that would have pushed all of Isak’s buttons, but he knew that Even was just distracting Isak – and maybe himself – from something else, so he just chuckled,

“I had to promise Mahdi and Magnus not to do that.”

Even let out a small laugh as well, before taking another deep breath,

“Parties can get a little overwhelming sometimes.”

“Okay,” Isak said, “is it better if we just sit here for a little bit?”

Even nodded, and Isak smiled at him, taking another sip of his vodka. He didn’t feel like asking any more questions. Even would talk to him if he wanted to, and if not, this was fine. He had gotten really good at being quiet with Even, so that it was anything but uncomfortable. If anything, it was the most normal Isak could feel.

“Who was that girl you talked to?” Even asked eventually, turning his cup in his hands.

“Eva,” Isak answered, “Jonas’ girlfriend. She’s my best friend. We spent a lot of time together back in school, and now she more or less lives at my place, so we’re around each other a lot.”

“You looked really cute together,” Even smiled, “were you checking out guys?”

Isak laughed,

“Yeah, we sort of do that together when we get drunk.”

“Cool. I never really… did that. Checking out guys. Like, I never had anyone to do that with.”

“We should do that together sometime,” Isak suggested, bumping their shoulders against each other.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Even nodded, taking a sip of his soda or water or whatever he was drinking,

“You’re a good guy,” he said quietly, “under all of that arrogance and constant grumpiness and everything.”

“You’re a good guy, too,” Isak smiled, and he thought about all the buts and all the negativity and everything that annoyed him about Even, who looked at him like he was waiting for exactly that as well.

But for some reason, and this might just be a first, Isak didn’t feel like any of that. So he just didn’t say anything, just shrugged when Even stared at him, expecting him to go on.

Even smiled to himself, taking a couple of deep breaths, staring into the darkness, and Isak didn’t feel the need to talk, either.

Eventually, when a drunk guy stumbled past them, they were both sort of brought back into reality, and Isak realized he was getting both sober and cold, so he turned to Even,

“Do you feel like going in again?”

“Okay,” Even agreed, smiling at Isak.

“Come on,” Isak grinned, “we’ll check out some hot guys together. I even promise not to leave you alone to fuck one of them.”

He didn’t really know why the fuck he was promising something like that, but for some reason, Even seemed more than satisfied with it.

They went back inside, and Even seemed much more light and happy, and Isak realized that he liked this much better. He could make fun of Even again, and soon, they were bantering and fighting again, in that nice way that they had established after their, mh, incident.

They ended up joking around and checking out guys together, and for some reason they talked about stuff they liked and disliked about other people, and then they just kept talking about so much more, and Isak realized that it had been the most fun he had had at a party in a pretty long time.

Even really was a good guy, he realized.

And when they hugged goodbye at five in the morning, Isak realized that he might not hate him that much after all.

 

* * *

  

**Even Optimist Bech Næsheim**

**05:32**

 

I like that you don’t ask questions about certain things

you’re a good person

I had fun tonight, thank you

 

it’s not my place to aks

*ask

you can share whateveryou want or don’t want

I had a good night too

 

good night isak

 

goodnight even

 

<3

 

<3

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news: I'm going to travel for the next two weeks!
> 
> Bad news: I won't be able to upload any chapters during that time
> 
> Good news: I am back on Twitter :) Feel free to follow me (@skambition), I will try to post little "What are Isak and Even doing right now" Moments during the next two weeks (if the WiFi allows it, you never know)
> 
> alt er love


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halla everyone!
> 
> I am back home and I'm reunited with my laptop and I will upload new chapters more regular again :)
> 
> Please let me know if you liked the new chapter, and feel free to follow me on Twitter (@skambition) if you have something in mind that you would love to read or if you have any questions or comments or if you just want to talk.
> 
> It is already September 1st in my time-zone, which means that now it is officially Suicide Prevention Month, so please remember that you can get help and that you are valid and have a purpose on this planet. You're all here for a reason, even if it doesn't feel like it sometimes. Let's all be kind to each other and talk about mental health and mental illness this month, let's get rid of tabus and stigmas and just share and love and support <3
> 
> and now have fun reading <3
> 
> alt er love <3 be kind

* * *

 

Isak felt surprisingly well the next morning.

He had stopped drinking when he and Even had gone back inside again, so he wasn’t really hungover, and the fact that they had gotten something to eat in the morning was also proving to be beneficial right now.

He was just feeling very tired, after all they had been out until almost six in the morning.

He stayed in bed for a few hours after waking up, lazily watching episode after episode of Parks and Rec, which he had been pretty in love with, even though he didn’t want to admit it to anyone.

When he finally walked into the kitchen to get some breakfast, it was already around noon, and Jonas was sitting at their table with a wide grin on his face,

“Good morning,” he cheered, and Isak didn’t have it in him to suppress the need to roll his eyes,

“Morning.”

“Did you have fun last night?” Jonas asked, and Isak couldn’t help but feel like Jonas was making a joke he wasn’t in on.

He shrugged, pouring himself a cup of coffee,

“Um, yeah. Did you?”

“I did,” Jonas nodded, still grinning, and Isak frowned, leaning against the counter,

“Great. Where’s Eva?”

“Showering.”

Isak just hummed, taking another sip of coffee, until he had enough of Jonas grinning at him, so he lifted his hand, gesturing towards said grin,

“What the fuck is up?”

“Nothing. I was just wondering… did you, like, go home with Even last night?”

Isak coughed, putting his cup down on their counter,

“How the fuck did you get that idea?”

“Well, Eva said that you two went outside for like an hour, and after that you were, like, inseparable for the rest of the night. And you left around two in the morning, but you didn’t come home until five thirty or something,” Jonas explained, looking way too excited.

Isak sighed, running a hand over his face as he turned around, looking for some cereal in his shelf, before turning to Jonas’ shelf.

He normally told Jonas everything, and for some reason he didn’t want to tell him about Even, about that one time they hooked up. He didn’t really know how to explain to his best friend that he had slept with the guy he had been so pissed at for weeks now, and he didn’t want to discuss Even with Jonas anymore. He didn’t mean to keep it from Jonas, exactly, but the timing had never been right, and by now, Isak didn’t know how to say it without making a big deal out of it. Which is wasn’t. It really wasn’t.

So he shook his head, pouring himself some of Jonas’ cereal,

“No, I didn’t go home with him. We just went to get something to eat.”

“Oh.” Jonas sounded obviously disappointed.

“Why do you care?” Isak asked, sitting down at their table as well, starting to eat his cereal.

“No reason. I just can’t help but think that you two would be a good fit,” Jonas said, shrugging, “I told you you’d like him if you gave him a shot, and since you voluntarily spent an entire night with him, I’d say I was right about that one, huh?”

“Yes, you were right about that one,” Isak rolled his eyes, “he’s not a bad person, but he’s not my favorite person, either. But yeah, he’s okay, I guess. Can we drop it now?”

Jonas nodded, leaning back,

“Sure.”

Isak continued eating, taking a sip of coffee every now and then, until Jonas broke the silence once again,

“Eva swears you two would have the hottest sex ever.”

Isak groaned,

“Dude!”

“What?!”

“If your girlfriend fantasizes about your gay roommate, you might want to consider minding your own business for a change,” Isak snapped, but Jonas was still grinning at him, and Isak realized that he wouldn’t be able to change that today.

 

* * *

 

**Even Optimist Bech Næsheim**

**13:38**

 

Jonas thinks we hooked up

 

oh my god valtersen did you just text me

 

I’ve texted you before?

 

well you’ve never started a conversation before

 

so

what is your point

 

well you obviously haven’t seen every fucking high school drama that exists

or you’d know that this is a groundbreaking moment in our relationship

 

we don’t have a relationship

and you’re making me regret texting you in the first place

 

fine

so Jonas thinks we hooked up

 

can you believe it?

 

well

we did

 

I mean last night

 

okay

and?

 

I told him we didn’t

 

okay

and?

 

I don’t know

I don’t usually lie to him or anything I just sort of didn’t tell him

and now I can’t tell him without him making a big deal out of it

can we agree not to tell him or something?

 

I would never tell your friends about that

not my place

thank you

 

<3

 

idiot

did you tell your friends?

 

about the best sex I ever had?

I haven’t shut up about it since it happened

 

hah!

I knew it was the best sex you ever had

see my theory is true after all

 

keep telling yourself that valtersen

see you tomorrow?

 

yes

have a good day

 

you too <3

 

…

 

come on

 

<3

 

:)

 

* * *

 

 

It wasn’t like something magically changed after they had voluntarily hung out for a night.

Even was still the same annoying idiot that Isak loved to hate, and he was still convinced that Even wasn’t the kind of person he would like to actually spend time with, and that they didn’t have anything in common, really.

But he also came to terms with the fact that Even wasn’t the worst person in the world.

“Good morning,” Isak said when he came into Kaffebrenneriet the next morning, and Even smiled at him,

“Morning. How as the rest of your weekend?”

“Same old, same old,” Isak shrugged, walking over to get an apron, giving Even a quick, but firm hug on the way.

“Did you watch Parks and Rec?” Even asked against Isak’s ear, and Isak patted his back for a second, before he pulled back,

“A little,” he said, “I also made plans with Jonas, we had to finish some organizing for our trip.”

“Right,” Even nodded, getting his phone out to connect it to the speakers of the coffee shop, “when exactly do you leave?”

“In a week,” Isak answered, tying his apron into place, before he groaned when Even put on a song.

This time, it was _Neste sommer_ by deLillos, and Isak was torn, because he secretly kind of loved that song, but he didn’t want to give Even the satisfaction of knowing that he had actually chosen a song that Isak liked. He clenched his jaw, watching Even goofily dance to the song, giving Isak a challenging look as if he was waiting for him to rant about the song.

Isak didn’t.

He just turned around to get some cups out of the shelfs, but he was pretty sure that Even had seen the smile he was trying to hide.

 

\--

 

“Do you think it needs more salt?” Eva asked, holding out the wooden spoon for Isak to taste.

He did, and fuck, he was so lucky to live with people who actually knew how to cook,

“I think it’s perfect.”

“Yeah?” Eva beamed at him, “you think so?”

Isak smiled softly. She had come over today to surprise Jonas with a home-cooked meal after he had to finish his paper today and had to spend all day in the library. Isak thought that she was being really cute, and he also loved having her around. He was so glad that Jonas had a girlfriend who was not only sweet and kind and funny, but also one of Isak’s very best friends.

“Yeah. He’s going to love it,” Isak promised. He was sitting on the counter, after Eva had forbidden him to help, drinking his soda and watching her cook.

“I hope so. I can’t believe you are going to steal him away from me for two whole weeks,” Eva pouted, and Isak shrugged,

“You could have come with us.”

“Yeah, no, I know, but I want him to spend some time with just you guys. And us girls are going to go away, too, just a little later, so it’s not like I’m going to have to be alone all of the time. It just sucks that I didn’t get to spend much time with him over the summer. We’ve just both been so busy with uni and everything,” Eva sighed, adding a little bit of salt, before she turned to the side a little to stir the pasta.

“Yeah, that sucks,” Isak admitted, wincing, “but hey, you still have some time left after we get back, right? Maybe you should ask him to take a trip to your mom’s cabin for a couple of days?”

Eva smiled, running a hand over her neck. Her hair was put up in one of those messy buns that Isak never really understood the physics behind. But she looked pretty. She always did.

“Maybe,” she agreed, “although I can’t possibly leave you all alone for more than a day,” she teased, gently stroking his cheek for a second, “you’ll starve to death.”

Isak scoffed, shaking his head, pulling away a little,

“I can cook. I just choose not to.”

“Yeah, right.”

Isak just grinned, taking another sip of soda, shifting slightly to fish his phone out of his pocket, since it had buzzed a couple of times.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Even Optimist Bech Næsheim**

**19:29**

 

hello there

just wanted to let you know that Jonas wants us to hang out tomorrow night

after we hand in that paper we finished today

 

us?

 

Jonas and I will hang out and celebrate that we finished the paper

my friends will come as well

and he’s going to ask you and your friends to come too

but I’ll be there

so just wanted to give you a heads up I guess

 

how considerate

 

it’s called social skills

you might want to look it up at some point

 

shut up

 

so will I be seeing you tomorrow night

 

yeah in your dreams

 

don’t flatter yourself

 

I’m the best sex you ever had after all

 

I’ve never met anyone as arrogant as you

 

it’s not bragging if it’s true

 

well

hard to argue with that

see you tomorrow Valtersen

 

maybe

 

and isak

 

what

 

even if you don’t say it

I know exactly that I’m the best sex you ever had too

stop acting all entitled

 

fuck you

you’re so annoying

see you tomorrow even

 

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

 

?

 

you didn’t deny it

 

bye even

 

* * *

 

 

“Who are you texting?” Eva asked with raised eyebrows.

Isak jumped a little, putting his phone away, clearing his voice,

“No-one.”

“Oiii,” Eva said, poking her finger into his thigh, “did you actually fall for one of your hook ups?”

“No,” Isak rolled his eyes, relieved when they heard Jonas’ key turn, and Eva smiled, going out in the hallway to greet him.

They had dinner, all three of them, and afterwards, Isak went to his room, knowing very well that they wanted to spend some time just the two of them.

He opened his Grindr app on his phone, considering going over to some guys house.

Instead, he ended up watching Parks and Rec and texting with Even.

 

\--

 

“So, you’re the famous Isak,” Even’s friend – Elias, Isak remembered – said with a smug smile.

Jonas and Even had handed in the paper today and now they were all at some bar together – Isak’s friends and Even’s friends and everyone was getting along so _well_ that Isak was a little annoyed. Or he would be if he wouldn’t have been so drunk.

Isak let his gaze flicker over to Even, who was already blushing a little, obviously afraid of what his friend would do next, and he couldn’t help but grin,

“That’d be me. I didn’t know I was famous, though.”

“Yeah, this one goes on and on about you,” Mikael jumped in, and Even hit him gently on the back of the head, before turning to Isak with a shrug,

“They’re exaggerating.”

“Of course,” Isak nodded, smirking a little.

“Let’s get a beer,” Mutta suggested, putting a hand around Isak’s shoulder, “time to celebrate the end of the semester.”

Isak liked Mutta the most, he realized a couple of hours later. They had been talking for almost all night, about uni and then about their apartments and then about music. Mutta had a pretty decent taste in music, and Isak wondered how he even managed to live with Even. Apparently, Even, Mutta and Elias lived together at some place in Grünerløkka, while Mikael, Yousef and Adam had an apartment together somewhere in Briskeby.

He also learned that Even apparently was impossible to watch movies with, because he was always criticizing everything, and that Even was a pretty good cook. He also was a morning person, which Isak had suspected, given the fact that he was always so happy and cheery when they started their early shift together.

For some reason, drinking beer and talking to Mutta about Even was one of the best nights Isak had had in a long time. He liked learning things about Even from another perspective, and he ignored the fact that Mutta made it sound like Even was a fucking angel and the best friend ever.

Jonas eventually pulled him away for a second to do shots together, and when Isak went back over to Mutta, he saw Even talking to him with what seemed like an annoyed tone, gesturing wildly towards the bar and then towards Isak’s friends.

He didn’t know what was going on, but he was drunk enough not to think about it too much, and when there suddenly was even more tequila offered to him, he went with it.

The rest of the night was a lot of fun, at least the pieces that Isak remembered. Dancing, drinking, laughing with Even’s friends.

They walked home a couple of hours later, and Isak was pretty drunk, and since Even wasn’t, he was helping him walk straight, a hand around his waist.

“I can walk all by myself,” Isak announced, trying to get out of Even’s grip, almost tripping over his own feet.

“I highly doubt that,” Even grinned, leading Isak over a street, followed by Mutta and Elias and some girl Isak didn’t really remember.

“Where is Jonas?” Isak whined, and Mutta laughed, ruffling Isak’s hair,

“He went home with his girlfriend.”

“Ugh,” Isak groaned, “can’t believe he left me all alone to have sex,” he complained, before thinking about that statement for a second, “actually, I sort of understand that.”

Mutta and Elias laughed, as they reached an apartment building, looking at Even with a questioning look.

“I promised Jonas I’d take him home, so…” Even said, gesturing towards Isak.

“Well, then,” Elias grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.

“We’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Mutta added, gesturing towards Isak, “maybe try talking to him.”

“Jesus Christ,” Even sighed, before turning to Isak, “Say goodnight.”

Isak looked back and forth between them, not really understanding what was going on, before he hugged both Elias and Mutta, until an impatient looking Even pulled him away and they walked back to Isak’s place.

“Mutta is pretty hot,” Isak observed, stumbling against Even a little.

“Mhm,” Even just hummed, steadying Isak again.

“Is he straight?” Isak kept asking, and Even shook his head,

“It’s non of your business.”

“I’m just asking,” Isak whined, leaning against Even a little more.

He smelled so good and his body felt so warm.

“You’re not allowed to hook up with any of my friends,” Even told him, “ever.”

“That’s not fair,” Isak pouted.

Even lifted a hand,

“How is that not fair?”

“I don’t know,” Isak admitted, before they stopped walking.

Isak looked at his front door, beaming at Even,

“You know where I live!”

“I’ve been at your place, remember?” Even asked, holding out his hand, “can I get your key?”

“Come and get it,” Isak challenged, pushing his hips towards Even a little.

“Mmm, a little more to the left, baby,” Isak purred into Even’s ear, trying to move his hips to get Even’s hand where he wanted it the most right now, but Even just chuckled softly, getting the key out of Isak’s pocket to unlock the door.

Isak hid his face in Even’s neck on their way up the stairs. Maybe sleeping with Even again wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world. He was so hot and his body was so pretty and his hair was looking so good.

Isak sighed happily when he leaned against Even’s body heavily while they walked up the stairs.

And everything after that was sort of a blur.

 

\--

 

When Isak woke up the next morning, he expected to wake up naked and sore, with dried up come over his hands or face or chest, ready to throw up.

Instead, he woke up in an empty bed, with a package of pain killers and a glass of water as well as a glass of juice right next to his bed, along with a plate with two cheese toasties on it.

He was wearing his boxers from last night and a soft, grey hoodie that he didn’t recognize, and he felt like he had actually _slept_. He also didn’t feel too hungry or thirsty, almost as if something had made him something to eat before going to sleep.

Isak frowned slightly. What the fuck had happened last night?

He reached for the little folded up paper on the pillow next to him.

 

_Had to work, didn’t want to wake you._

_Hope you like your breakfast. I used some Kardamomme, that’s the trick to make it really good._

_PS: you’re hot when you’re sleeping_

 

Isak buried his face in the pillow next to his, inhaling deeply.

And he couldn’t help but smile.

 

* * *

 

**Even Optimist Bech Næsheim**

**15:02**

 

thank you for taking me home

I can’t really remember anything

sorry if I did something weird

 

no problem

you didn’t do anything weird

 

did we eat anything before we went to sleep

 

yeah I made you an omelett

 

why aren’t there used dishes in the kitchen then?

 

I cleaned them?

 

and you slept here?

 

yeah you said it was ok

 

why am I wearing your hoodie?

 

you were cold and you wanted to

 

okay

well thanks for letting me borrowing it and thank you for the food and stuff

 

yeah sure no problem

 

I don’t have any plans tomorrow

if you wanted to hang out I could give you your hoodie

and like

buy you a burger as a thank you

 

yeah sounds nice

we could meet at Birkelunden

maybe around 17?

 

okay

 

<3

 

do I really have to text you a heart everytime

it’s weird

 

if you can live with yourself knowing that you denied me the pleasure of receiving a heart emoji, suit yourself

 

you’re so annoying

 

I know

see you tomorrow

 

see you tomorrow

<3

* * *

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halla!
> 
> What a magical monday it was today. I seriously felt something like joy for the first time in forever when I saw that there will actually be SKAM books and that I will be able to actually read skam scripts in actual written norwegian soon. Like, what?
> 
> Part of me sometimes feels like, yes, skam is over, and maybe we should let go and let it rest in peace and just stop being so emotional, but then something like that happens and it brings me so much happiness so screw being an adult, and points for forever keeping skam in our lives because it's just a fucking delight.
> 
> Also, I'm sorry for this chapter and I promise that the next one will be better! I don't know when I'll be able to upload it because of personal stress but I will do my best!
> 
> I'm sorry for rambling, and have fun reading. Follow and dm me on Twitter if you want, I love to talk to you guys <3
> 
> alt er love <3 be kind

 

* * *

 

“When I agreed to watch Parks and Recreation I had no idea what kind of emotional rollercoaster you would trick me into,” Isak whined when he walked into KB a couple of days later.

“Awww, did you watch the Li’l Sebastian episode?” Even guessed, holding out his arms to give Isak a hug.

Isak didn’t like hugs.

For some reason, people seemed to love them, everyone always wanted to be hugged and held when they felt bad, or just because.

Isak didn’t.

He didn’t like how it felt, it always was weird somehow. People didn’t have the perfect height for it, they didn’t hold Isak with the tightness he wanted, it was usually awkward and hard to breathe or just didn’t fit.

It wasn’t making him feel good, or feel better, it made him feel uncomfortable.

He simply didn’t like it.

For some reason he didn’t mind too much with Even.

Somehow, he was the first person whose arms he just fit into, and who just fit into Isak’s arms. He didn’t have to think about how to hold him, where to put his arms or his head, it was just feeling good.

Like it fit.

So he hugged Even back,

“I just loved Li’l Sebastian so much!”

“We all did,” Even agreed, running a hand through Isak’s hair, before letting him go.

“Nothing makes sense anymore,” Isak sighed, getting out of his hoodie, hanging it up.

“I’m sorry,” Even said, climbing on a chair to write some stuff on the chalk board behind the counter.

“I miss Li’l Sebastian,” Isak mumbled, sitting down on the counter, watching Even write the specials down.

“We all do,” Even repeated, writing down some new hip icy beverages, while Isak started preparing some other stuff, putting out menus on the table, getting everything ready.

“So, what did you do all weekend?” Isak asked when he was done, sitting on the counter.

Even told him all about his weekend, making Isak laugh with the stories about his friends, about how stupidly hot it was in his apartment, how he had tried to get outside of the city on Sunday to take some photos, but had ended up at Sørenga with his friends, because Elias needed girl advice and they all needed a little refreshment after that.

Isak remembered how weeks ago, he couldn’t wait for a customer to come in to stop Even from fucking talking.

Today, when the first customer came in, Isak hated her, because he just wanted to be alone with Even a few minutes longer.

 

\--

 

“It’s so weird that you’re going to be gone for two whole weeks,” Even said when they were closing up two days later.

It was Isak’s last day, since they would fly to Portugal early the next morning.

“Aww, are you going to miss me?” Isak teased, wiping one of the tables clean.

“Yeah, I’m going to miss making fun of you,” Even admitted.

Isak rolled his eyes when _Optimist_ started playing – yet again – giving Even a pointed look,

“Well, that’s one thing I won’t miss.”

Even grinned, walking over to the counter, tapping around on his phone, until the music stopped and instead, a rap song started playing.

“What’s that?” Isak asked with a smile, leaning against the table he’d been cleaning.

“Nas,” Even said, “consider it my going away present.”

Isak grinned,

“Thanks. It’s just two weeks, though, I’ll be back to annoy you before you know it.”

“I hope you do,” Even said.

They were quiet while they cleaned up everything, and when they finally stood outside of the shop, Isak lingering around while Even locked the door, he realized that he didn’t just want to go home.

He should.

He really _really_ should, because he wasn’t done packing yet and he really needed to finish that tonight, but he didn’t want to.

Before he could say anything, Even turned around to him,

“Hey, do you want to get something to eat?”

Isak smiled,

“Yeah.”

 

\--

 

They went to Sara’s café and ordered burger and beer and just talked.

Isak learned about Even’s ex girlfriend and about his family, and told him about his own messed up family.

Even told him that he was bipolar, and Isak shrugged and nodded and said ‘Okay’, and Even’s smile was brighter than the sun.

They talked about their experiences with mental health and mental illnesses, they talked about how sleeping at night should be so simple and yet it wasn’t. They talked about how annoying it was when you forgot to switch to WiFi and used all of your mobile data even when you were home. They showed each other their favorite stupid memes and talked about their favorite foods. They talked about the stress of uni, and how it was so much more fun than school, and still harder sometimes, because it forced you to be an actual adult from time to time, and that was scary as fuck.

They talked about their favorite TV shows and their favorite movies, and Even explained to Isak why he felt like art was important for people and what kind of purpose it served in his opinion. Isak didn’t roll his eyes or tease him about it, he just smiled and admitted that he had never thought about it that way.

They talked about Isak’s upcoming vacation and about a project that Even had yet to finish before the semester started again.

When the place finally closed, they were forced to leave, and they walked home together.

Even was living a little bit closer, so Isak walked him home, and Even let him borrow his hoodie because Isak was cold. It was the same hoodie Isak had slept in a week before, and it was soft and warm and smelled like Even.

“So,” Isak said when they were standing at Even’s front door.

“So,” Even agreed, “have a great vacation.”

“Thank you,” Isak smiled, pulling Even into a long hug, “I hope you won’t annoy whoever you have to work with too much.”

“Don’t worry, I only like to annoy you,” Even grinned, and Isak laughed,

“Well, then I can’t wait to get back,” he teased, and they smiled at each other for a second.

“I should get home,” Isak said quietly, and Even nodded,

“Yeah, you probably should. Try not to focus all the hate you usually reserve for me on your friends.”

Isak laughed, but shook his head,

“I think you know that I don’t really hate you.”

“No?” Even asked carefully.

“Nah,” Isak smiled, “you’re a really good friend.”

Even’s face fell a little, but he smiled back,

“You, too. Have a great time.”

They hugged again, a little longer this time, and then Isak walked home to his place.

 

* * *

 

**Even Optimist Bech Næsheim**

**02:19**

 

did you get home ok?

 

you do realize I’m not a child right?

like we literally walked almost all the way to my apartment

 

excuse me

lots of things could have happened

 

mhm

yeah

because Oslo is known for its nightly crime scene

 

I was more thinking along the lines of you texting while you walk

and falling over

or hitting your head against a street light or something

 

just fuck you

I really don’t know why I even spend time with your rude ass

 

my ass might be the one reason why you spend so much time with me

you superficial sex freak

 

your ass is actually not your strongest feature but I see your point

you sweet little romantic kitten

 

you can have hot, steamy sex on a bed of roses while listening to bon jovi

 

bon jovi would literally kill my boner

oh shit

I still have your hoodie

should I bring it by tomorrow before we take off?

 

yes please come by my apartment some time before seven in the fucking morning to deliver the one hoodie I own

idiot

 

just trying to be nice you dick

so you won’t need it for the next two weeks

 

nah

actually take it with you

just in case it gets cold at night you know

 

really

 

why not

 

I have hoodies of my own you know

 

yeah but your fashion sense is pretty much shit and if you meet any Portuguese hotties you would want to impress them right?

plus I don’t want you to ruin our Norwegian reputation by dressing like you fell into a very sad second hand store and just left with whatever ended up on your body

 

you are so weird

and so rude

but fine I’ll take your stupid hoodie with me

 

if there will be any jizz stains on that hoodie

I will pour a cup of extra artsy latte art over your head

 

noted

 

have a good vacation valtersen

try not to catch an STD

 

haha you’re so funny

see you in two weeks

try not to light KB on fire while I’m gone

and maybe start watching some porn instead of pretty woman so you’ll get a more realistic take on sex

 

I know about 10 documentaries that portray why porn does not represent sex realistically

want recommendations?

 

tempting but no

I need to fishing packing and I need to sleep

 

fine

see you in two weeks

 

yeah

guess I will

bye

 

bye

<3

 

ugh

<3

 

aww you’re so cute

 

I hate you

 

sure you do <3

 

* * *

 

just landed

 

thank you for informing me

 

bite me

I thought you’d like to know that your hoodie is safe

 

well I’m happy to hear my hoodie is safe

was your flight okay?

 

well it was fucking freezing

but I was warm thanks to your hoodie

 

aww you took it into the plane with you

 

yeah?

couldn’t risk putting it into my suitcase

suitcases get lost

 

you’re so protective

 

it’s a nice hoodie

 

that’s true

are you headed to your hostel now or what’s the plan?

 

yeah, we’re just trying to get our rental car

Jonas is ridiculously proud of himself because he learned like two words in Portuguese

now he’s like ‘bom dia’ and ‘obrigada’ all over the place

 

hahahaha

cute

 

trust me it’s not

but yeah once we have our car we’ll head to our hostel

chill a bit, go shopping later to get some food and snacks for tomorrow

 

sounds nice

 

yes

how are you?

 

I’m okay

life’s a little more chill since I handed in that paper

I do have to finish that project I told you about but I actually like working on it

 

that’s so good

can’t wait to see it when you’re done with it

 

to make fun of me?

 

yes mostly

and to maybe be a little impressed that you can make a whole short movie by yourself

 

sounds like Mr. Art Critic is finally coming around

 

dumbass

what are you up to today, do you have to work?

 

yeah in like two hours or something

 

try not to miss me too much

 

trust me I’m already losing that battle

 

idiot

have a good day

 

you too

don’t forget to use sunscreen

 

yes

 

and have a great day

 

obrigada

 

<3

 

\--

 

hey what did you do today

 

hey

I attempted to surf and I was shockingly bad at it

 

it’s not exactly a shock to me tbh

 

fuck you

how was work

 

it was ok

nobody commented on my music

it’s almost no fun listening to Jahn Teigen if you’re not there to suffer

 

well believe it or not it’s no fun listening to NWA all the time

I can’t make fun of anyone here it’s frustrating

 

isn’t magnus there?

 

haha yeah he is

but it’s not the same

 

haha

did you meet any hot guys yet

 

why do you ask me shit like that

it’s weird

 

no it isn’t

we’re friends now, right?

 

I didn’t

and I probably won’t

like I don’t want to hook up with anyone while I’m with the guys

 

bros over bros?

 

yeah something like that

 

well then

what do you have planned tomorrow?

 

we’ll keep driving down the coast

there is some small town that’s supposed to have the best pasteis

so we’ll check that out

 

nice

have fun

keep me posted

 

will do

bye

 

* * *

 

hey

I didn’t hear from you in a couple of days

you ok?

 

literally two days

 

technicalities

 

idiot

I’m good

we had a lot of fun yesterday

we went hiking

I got a sunburn

 

sounds like fun

where are you now?

 

I have no idea how all of those small towns and stuff are called

but we’re right on schedule so that’s good

and it’s really cool here

beautiful and stuff

 

well finally a country that matches you

 

haha funny

 

how is everything with the guys?

everything still harmonic?

 

yeah it’s super chill

I’m having a lot of fun

 

that’s good

 

yeah

I got to go, we’re about to have dinner together

but I’ll text you when I’m back at the hostel ok?

 

yeah sure

have fun

<3

 

<3

 

* * *

 

“Who are you texting all the time?” Jonas asked, gently kicking his foot against Isak’s.

They had just gotten to their hostel, and this time they had two bedrooms instead of just one, which was a lot more chill and comfortable.

“Mh?”

“You keep texting someone all the time,” Jonas said, leaning against their desk with a card in his hand to check out the route for the next day, “it’s been like this ever since we’re here.”

“Sorry, I’ll stop,” Isak said, blushing a little, “I didn’t know it bothered you.”

He was feeling a little bit bad. It was supposed to be a guy’s trip, just him and his friends, and he knew that he had been a little distracted.

“You don’t have to stop it, it doesn’t bother me,” Jonas said, “I was just wondering who it was.”

Isak thought about lying for a brief second, before he shrugged,

“Even.”

“Okay,” Jonas said, “what, are you guys friends now?”

“Yeah, pretty much. I mean- I think we still annoy each other, it’s not like we’re each other’s biggest fans, but you were right, he’s a nice guy. We hung out a little over the last few weeks, I mean, outside of work, and it has been good, I guess?”

“That’s good,” Jonas nodded, “it’s good that you guys get along now.”

Isak smiled, typing a reply to Even, saying that he needed to go, before tossing his phone to the side,

“Yeah. It’s good. So, are we going to get something to eat?”

Jonas sighed a little, but nodded along,

“Sure.”

 

* * *

 

work is boring without you

 

yeah why’s that

 

nobody is being a bitch to me

it’s been a whole week since someone flirted with a customer in a very inappropriate way

 

I don’t flirt in an inappropriate way

 

you told a guy that it was a good thing he was having black coffee

because you were planning to be on him for the rest of the night

 

yeah

that wasn’t inappropriate

it was accurate

he did need that coffee

because I was on him for the rest of the night

well under him technically

 

ugh

you’re the worst

 

and yet you miss me

 

yeah sometimes you miss things that you secretly hate

 

you don’t hate me

 

right

I like you as a friend

 

exactly

 

how’s your sunburn?

 

I’m trying to convince myself that I look tan in certain lighting

but it’s still pretty bad

 

oh boy

what are you guys up to today?

Mutta says hi by the way

 

aww say hi back

we’re going to the beach for a bit and then we’re going to drive another hour to some town that Jonas wants to see

 

sounds fun

 

yep

I’ll text you later

have a good day <3

 

you too valtersen

 

* * *

 

I miss you too, by the way

 

<3

 

* * *

 

Somewhere between Lisbon and Lagos, Isak started to realize something.

It was more than friendship.

He had no idea what it was, exactly, but he just started to realize that he wanted something more with Even than just friendship. When he thought about Jonas, that was friendship for him. The whole thing with Even – messed up as it was – was somehow more.

Isak _missed_ him.

He was sitting at the world’s most amazing beaches, hiking around on the world’s most beautiful cliffs, the sun was shining and the sky was of such an intense blue.

But it didn’t come close to just hanging around at KB with Even.

Isak missed the blue of Even’s eyes, he missed his hugs and how they talked about stupid things, he missed fighting with him, and he even missed his crappy playlists.

 _When you started missing_ Optimist _by Jahn Teigen, it had to be more than friendship._

Every time something nice happened, Isak felt like he wanted to share it with Even. When he saw a particularly nice view, he sent a picture of it to Even. Sometimes beauty and sunshine felt a little less significant because Even wasn’t there to experience it with him, and for some reason, Isak wanted him to be. He just wanted him to be _there_. To be near.

It was a slow process, but Isak realized it every day, and every day a little more.

He wanted to be closer to Even, and he didn’t know what that meant yet. He wasn’t the type for relationships, he had done it and it wasn’t for him. He liked being independent, he liked being free and not answering to anyone, he liked being himself, being an _I_ instead of a _we_.

I had spent a lot of time figuring all of that out, figuring out who he was outside of relationships, and he had been so fucking happy the last few years, being single and having fun, and he wanted to keep doing that.

Thing was, he also wanted Even somehow.

And he knew that he had to talk to him the second they got home.

 

\--

 

Normally, getting back home after a vacation felt a little sad. Isak had always hated it, coming home, coming back to his normal life that felt so boring compared to surfing and sunshine and sunsets.

This time, he wasn’t too sad about it. His body was tingling with excitement, because he knew that he wouldn’t have to wait much longer until he could see Even again.

He had no idea what to say, but he figured that he would just wing it. Just lay all of the mess inside his head out for Even, and then who knew. Maybe Even would know what to make of that mess. He was the artist after all.

Isak knew that Even had a shift today, the late shift, so he planned to go surprise him at KB after his shift ended, maybe getting them something to eat, maybe chill a little down by the river and just talk.

He remembered how Even had done exactly the same when they had talked about their night together, and Isak had to admit that it had been exactly what they had needed back then.

And now, he needed that again. Just a talk, just something to set his head straight. He needed someone to help him sort out all of that mess in his head, and he needed Even to be the one to do it.

He got up around noon after a long night of sleep, he had breakfast/ lunch with Jonas, checking out some pictures from Portugal, before he took a long, relaxing shower.

Kaffebrenneriet looked peaceful when Isak got there. He wore his favorite snapback, the burgundy one he had stolen from Jonas at some point, a white shirt and a pair of jeans, and he took a deep breath before he opened the door to KB.

“You look hot making coffee.”

“Do I now?”

“You look hot doing pretty much anything.”

“So do you.”

And then they kissed.

Isak stared at them, Even and _some guy_ , hazel colored hair, about Isak’s height, good body, nice clothes.

They were leaning against the counter, Even already out of his apron, since the shop had officially closed a couple of minutes ago, making out happily, breaking their kiss to giggle and touch every few seconds.

Isak wanted to throw up.

This could not fucking happen. He had been gone for two fucking weeks and not only did Even have a boyfriend all of a sudden, he didn’t even tell Isak? Weren’t they friends or whatever by now?

“Oh, hi,” the guy said, surprised, when he spotted Isak, “sorry. I think the shop’s already closed.”

“That’s okay, he works here,” Even said, pulling away from the guy, staring at Isak with an expression that Isak couldn’t quite place, “Hey you.”

Isak cleared his throat,

“Hi.”

“Sorry, I was just about to close up, we wanted to get something to eat,” Even gestured towards the guy.

“Yeah, cool. Isak,” Isak introduced himself.

“David,” the guy answered, shaking Isak’s hand.

He had nice hands.

Isak didn’t want those nice hands on Even’s body.

“I was just- I forgot which shift I had the next week, I didn’t write it down before I left, so I just came to check,” Isak lied.

Even nodded, opening his mouth to answer, but Isak was already pushing past him, going into the break room, staring at the plan for the upcoming week without really looking, because of course he had everything written down before had left for his trip.

He took a couple deep breaths, before he left the room again, making up an excuse about being in a rush to meet Jonas, before he left the shop, quickly walking down to the river, and then he just kept walking for a while, just walking and walking and walking to clear his head.

Only that he couldn’t find any clearness.

 

\--

 

“Hey,” Jonas greeted him when he got home a couple of hours later, “I started sorting the pictures we took. You want to check them out?”

“No,” Isak mumbled, walking into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

“What’s gotten into you?” Jonas asked with a frown, walking towards the kitchen as well, leaning into the doorframe.

“Nothing,” Isak hissed.

“Is it your mom?”

“No, Jonas, it isn’t my fucking mom!” Isak snapped, aggressively putting some dishes away, “Jesus, how many times do we have to agree on not putting all of your fucking dishes into the sink?!”

“Christ, what the fuck is going on?” Jonas repeated, sounding more worried than pissed, and it made Isak even more angry.

“I don’t-“ he started, but stopped himself, clenching his hands into fists.

He knew it wasn’t fair snapping at Jonas like that, and he didn’t want to talk about anything right now. There wasn’t anything to talk about anyway.

“I don’t know, maybe I just need to get laid, or whatever,” he lied, running a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s it,” Jonas said slowly, and it was very clear that he wasn’t buying it.

“Yeah,” Isak just mumbled, staring at the floor.

“Well, I’ll let you get to it, then. Just- Let me know, okay? If you do want to talk about it.”

Isak just nodded, and Jonas left the kitchen.

Isak drank his water and then went into his room, scrolling through Grindr for an hour, before he tossed his phone to the side, and just spent the rest of his night staring into the dark.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so... what do you think?
> 
> (I just had to say that for the person who compared me to simply nailogical <3)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday!
> 
> As promised, here is the new chapter. Thank you all for your comments and your feedback on the last chapter, and I hope that you will like this one just as much!
> 
> The story will have 10 chapters, so there are only two more to go!
> 
> Enjoy :)
> 
> alt er love <3 be kind

 

* * *

 

“So, you and Daniel,” Isak said with a faked smile when he and Even were chilling behind the counter the next day.

There were a few more customers by now, so they didn’t have the luxury to just hang out all day, but it got a little quieter from time to time, and for the first time in forever, Isak felt the need to fill those silences.

“David,” Even corrected.

_As if Isak didn’t know._

“So, you and David, then,” Isak repeated, shrugging to show how little he cared about that guy’s name. Or about the fact that he existed.

“Yep,” Even nodded.

“He seems nice,” Isak said slowly, knowing how lame that sounded, especially given the fact that he had met him for a full of two minutes the night before.

“Very nice,” Even agreed, smiling at Isak.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Isak asked with a frown, hoping he wouldn’t sound too jealous.

“I don’t know,” Even admitted, “I just thought I’d tell you once you came back. It’s not like I met him two weeks ago and kept it from you or something.”

“Ah,” Isak said, “when did you meet, then?”

“Just a couple of days ago.”

“Oh,” Isak said.

Another customer came in, and Isak turned towards them to greet them, as Even turned back to the coffee machine.

It got a little more busy again, and Isak had to actually work, which wasn’t too bad, since he really didn’t have any interest in talking to Even right about now.

In a way, it was more than okay that Even had a boyfriend now.

It was pretty much the clearness Isak had wanted from him, in a way. It was enough to sort out the mess in his head, because now, whatever he wanted or didn’t want from Even, it didn’t matter anymore, and he could just go back to his everyday life, and he could go back to being friends with Even.

Everything was clear again, all the mess was gone.

But still, the thoughts in Isak’s head were more chaotic than ever.

 

\--

 

The rest of the day was boring and uneventful, and Isak was beyond thankful when it was almost time to close up.

There was a small line of customers yet to be served, and Even was currently cleaning up some table where a guy had spilled coffee, so Isak was busy handling the drinks all by himself, and it was okay.

They listened to one of Even’s playlists, and Isak realized there were a couple of new songs on there.

He looked up, and Even smiled at him, that fond, kind smile that Isak loved and hated to much, and Isak couldn’t help but stare when Even started mouthing the words of the song,

 

Det beste her i livet kanke kjøpes for penger

Jeg har alt det jeg trenger

Når du smiler til meg

For jeg vil mye heller ha deg

 

[The best things in life can’t be bought with money

I have everything I need

when you smile at me

So I would much rather have you]

 

“One large cappuccino, please,” the woman in front of him tried again, and Isak blinked, cleared his throat, diverted his eyes from Even in what felt like the biggest struggle possible, before he shook his head slightly,

“Sorry?”

“One large cappuccino,” the woman tried again, slower this time, as if she was trying to speak to a child.

Isak nodded awkwardly, clearing his throat again, as he tried to find the right prize, turning around to read it from the board, until he finally managed to charge her card and get to making the beverage.

His head still felt like it was spinning.

Hell, his whole fucking world felt like it was spinning.

He really, really needed to talk to someone.

 

\--

 

He waited for Jonas outside of the library, feeling nervous and feeling idiotic about feeling nervous.

Most of all, though, he felt like this was so overdue and he felt relieved that he had come to his fucking senses.

Jonas smiled when Isak walked up to him, greeting him with a quick hug.

Isak cleared his throat,

“So, um, what are you doing tonight?”

“I don’t know, maybe just chill at home, watch a movie,” Jonas shrugged.

Isak couldn’t really wait that long,

“You want to join for kebab?”

“Yeah, sure,” Jonas nodded, “who’d say no to that?”

“No one,” Isak agreed with a smile, taking a deep breath as they walked down the street to their favorite kebab place.

They got their kebab and went over to a park to sit down at a bench, and Isak decided to jump right in,

“Hey, you know how you pointed out that I have been acting a little weird since we’re back home?”

Jonas just hummed.

“It’s because of Even,” Isak admitted, taking a bite from his kebab.

“Oh. What about him?”

“I told you that we’re friends now, right?” Isak asked.

Jonas hummed again.

“I think I want him to be more than that,” Isak said carefully, waiting for smug smiles and I told you sos.

Jonas just nodded, and then shrugged,

“Okay, what exactly do you want him to be?”

Isak sighed,

“I don’t _know_. I just noticed how fucking much I missed him when we were gone, and I just- I don’t really know, but I have feelings for him, sort of, and I just don’t know what to do with them. Everything between us is so weird and messy and stuff, and I feel like I don’t know what I want and I don’t know how to be around him anymore, you know.”

“Wow, shit,” Jonas agreed, mouth full of kebab, “I know this is probably not the most creative advice, but how about talking to him about it?”

Isak shrugged, feeling a little helpless,

“Doesn’t make much of a difference now, does it? He has a boyfriend.”

Jonas coughed, eyes wide,

“What?! Since when?”

“Apparently they met a couple of days before we got back.”

“Are you sure it’s not just a hook-up?” Jonas asked.

“Even doesn’t do hook-ups. You heard him go on and on and on about how sex is meaningful and deep and an expression of love and whatever bullshit.”

“He just said that sex is _better_ when it’s like that, it doesn’t mean that he never had sex with a person he didn’t care about. And I think he has a point. I liked hooking up, too, but I still thought everything was better when I got together with Eva again, right? You can believe in love and everything, and look for the right person, and still fuck around.”

Isak hummed.

“Plus, I don’t think he judges you as much as you think. I don’t think he has a problem with people having meaningless sex, he may just have a problem with you having meaningless sex. Maybe – and that’s just my vague impression – maybe because you don’t have it with him.”

Isak closed his eyes for a second. Now or never.

“We, um. We did. Have meaningless sex. Even and I.”

Jonas’ jaw dropped, when he stared at Isak, eyes wide,

“What?! When?!”

“A while back.”

“After that party?” Jonas asked, still looking shocked.

“No, even before that.”

“Why?! And why didn’t you tell me?! You always tell me shit like that!”

“I don’t know! We just- we were fighting at KB, and before I knew what was happening, he kissed me, and then I took him home and we- well, we fucked.”

“Shit, Isak.”

“What? We talked about it afterwards, and we agreed that it was a mistake and that we wouldn’t talk about it again,” Isak argued, “and things got better afterwards, like, we got along better.”

“Okay. So he does do hook-ups after all,” Jonas pointed out, gesturing with his hands in a very _I told you so_ way.

“Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe,” Isak agreed, picking apart his kebab just to have something to stare at.

“Okay. So what do you want now? Do you want to have that again? Sex with Even? Or are you just pissed because someone else stole your favorite toy?” Jonas asked, eyebrows raised.

“My favorite toy?” Isak repeated.

“This is just my opinion, but I’m pretty sure that Even wants more with you than just friendship as well. It’s just a feeling that I have, I’m not going to give you the ‘I see the way he looks at you’ line, and I can’t read his mind, and I don’t know him, so it’s just my opinion, you know. That he might want more.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m not sure, and it’s not my place to assume anything but- it seemed like it, sometimes. I mean, he slept with you, after all. And maybe it wasn’t as meaningless to him as it was to you, considering what he said to us about sex.”

“Yeah, but- I don’t _know_ ,” Isak whined, burying his face in his hands.

“You need to talk to him, and before you do, you should maybe figure out what you want from him. Or at least, figure out a direction. Like, maybe think about whether you’re jealous of that new guy because he gets to see Even naked, or because he gets to make Even laugh.”

Isak took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair,

“I don’t really _know_ what I want from him. I just- he said something today that was really weird.”

“What did he say?” Jonas asked.

Isak sighed. He knew he would have to thank Jonas for being the most patient person in the fucking world one day. Not now though. Now he needed to freak out and overthink the mess that was him and Even.

“He didn’t exactly say anything, he… he sang along to a song,” Isak explained, wincing at how ridiculous it sounded.

“Which song?” Jonas asked, still patient for some reason.

“Jeg vil mye heller har deg,” Isak said carefully, wincing again.

Jonas closed his eyes for a second, shaking his head.

“I know, but Even listens to bullshit pop songs all the fucking time. I don’t think he meant it, I think he was just singing along, but it just _felt_ like-“

“Okay, Isak, time out,” Jonas interrupted, holding his hand up to stop Isak from talking.

So much for his patience.

“Listen, Even slept with you. Even sings pop songs for you that are weirdly fitting to this whole situation. Even texted you every _fucking_ second when you were away. And you, my friend, as much as you don’t fucking know what you feel, wore his hoodie every goddamn night when you went to sleep. I don’t know Even, and I think assuming his feelings based on a couple of texts or a bullshit pop-song isn’t my place, so you. need. to. fucking. talk. to. him.”

Jonas poked Isak’s shoulder with every word,

“Come on, you’re sitting here wondering about the lyrics of a popsong. It won’t get better from here. You guys need to talk, before you overthink this shit to a point of no return.”

Isak took a deep breath, nodding along,

“Okay. How would I bring that up, though?”

“I don’t know. You see each other all the time, there has to be an opportunity for you to talk.”

Isak shook his head,

“I don’t even know if I _want_ to talk to him. He has a boyfriend, Jonas. What’s the point in dumping all of this mess on him?”

“The point is that it’s his mess, too. He slept with you, so now he can deal with whatever you’re feeling about that or about him. Why should you do that on your own? And _again_ , you don’t even know if he’s really together with that guy. If he never actually said so, maybe you’re just assuming.”

“I _saw_ them.”

“Isak, every party we go to at least two guys come up to me and tell me my girlfriend is hooking up with someone. A guy even offered to beat you up. People see two people dancing or touching or having fun, or whatever, and they assume. There have been enough moments where I assumed that you guys were hooking up. That’s why assuming is stupid, in the end you will need to talk.”

“Wow, tell that to every producer of every teenage drama series ever and we’d have no more content,” Isak tried to joke, and Jonas laughed, bumping their shoulders together,

“I get why you would think that the guy is Even’s boyfriend, I know what you mean and I’m not saying that it can’t be true. But even if he is, maybe telling Even about everything will make you feel better, and maybe he’s able to clear up some of that mess. Even if it’s by telling you he isn’t interested.”

Isak sighed,

“Yeah. I guess.”

He took another bite from his kebab, leaning back, feeling a little more relaxed.

Jonas cleared his throat, and when Isak looked over to him, the smug smile was back, the one that Isak hated and would never admit that he had missed over the last few days,

“So, was it any good? The sex?”

Isak laughed, and felt so much tension just leave his body,

“It was the fucking best.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he’s incredible in bed. We were kissing for like an hour, because I just sort of forgot to move further because he was so fucking good at it. His lips are to die for, hell, his whole body is amazing, and his stamina is like, off the charts.”

“Nice,” Jonas said, grinning, “did you just do… like, handstuff, or you know? The full experience?”

“Just call it anal sex, you loser.”

Jonas rolled his eyes, raising his eyebrows and grinning at Isak, obviously dying to know the answer.

Isak sighed, shrugging,

“Full experience.”

Jonas’ grin grew even wider, and he gently punched Isak’s shoulder,

“Nice. But did you only hook up once?”

“Well, one night,” Isak explained, “but we had sex more than once that night. It got weird the next morning, but then we talked it out, and afterwards, we got along better.”

“So talking _did_ help,” Jonas pointed out.

Isak rolled his eyes, but he wasn’t annoyed,

“Yeah, dad, talking helps. I’ll tell you what he says when I do bring it up, okay?”

“Do that,” Jonas agreed, “I don’t like it when you don’t talk to me.”

It sounded serious, and Isak didn’t laugh, he just looked at Jonas,

“I know. I don’t like it either.”

 

\--

 

There were endless opportunities to talk, but Isak couldn’t really bring himself to do it.

They worked together, and Isak suffered, and they didn’t talk.

Isak didn’t see the guy Even was dating, but he did see that Even was texting sometimes, a smile on his face, and he tried to follow Jonas’ advice and not just assume anything, but it was hard.

It was very hard.

Isak ended up not talking to Even for a whole week – at least not about _that_ – and he was getting annoyed with just about anything, himself being on top of that list.

Which was why he was doing his second tequila shot around ten pm at the party he was currently at. It was some class mate’s of Jonas who was throwing it, and Isak didn’t know too many people here, and since Eva wasn’t able to come, he felt pretty bored.

“Hey,” some guy said right next to his ear, already leaning into Isak’s space.

“Hi,” Isak answered, looking at the guy.

About Isak’s height, brought shoulders, short, dark hair, nice eyes.

Isak wasn’t interested.

“You’re Isak, right?”

“Yeah. What’s your name?” Isak asked, bored, something resembling an electric shock buzzing through his body when he suddenly saw Even on the other side of the room, talking to that fucking David guy.

“Lars.”

“Nice to meet you,” Isak smiled, moving his body just slightly closer towards Lars, letting their arms brush against each other, making sure he was close enough, but not too close.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Lars said, eyes already clouded, and Isak tilted his head to whisper into his ear,

“You want to dance?”

He pulled back, throwing a quick glance over to Even, who stared right back, obviously not listening to what David was talking about.

Isak held his gaze, staring at him while he pulled Lars towards the middle of the room, where people were dancing, and he couldn’t help breathing a little harder when he saw Even follow his moves, pulling David towards the dancefloor as well.

“You’re so hot,” Lars breathed against his neck, pulling Isak closer, grinding against him, “shit, your ass is so fucking good.”

Isak just hummed, endlessly distracted by the way Even was staring at him.

Lars pulled back just a little bit to kiss him, and Isak _melted_.

Not necessary because of the guy he was kissing, but because Even was still staring at him, while he slowly started making out with David.

Isak kissed back eagerly, moaning and licking and panting, picturing those lips to be Even’s, almost feeling how Even’s lips had felt against his that night, and he stared and stared and stared at Even, who stared back at him, and Isak felt like time was standing fucking still.

Until Lars turned them around a little, blocking Isak’s view, and his hand moved down, cupping Isak over his pants,

“You want to get out of here?” he whispered, gently biting Isak’s neck, “I live a couple of minutes away.”

Every other night, Isak would have said yes.

But this wasn’t any other night.

He wanted Even and he wanted him right the fuck now and he was going to get him, and if he would destroy their friendship and lose his job and what not, he just had to.

“Um, sorry, I- I don’t feel well,” Isak stammered, “I need to go.”

He got out of Lars’ grip and moved towards the exit, throwing Even another long, intense stare.

And he didn’t even have to look back, because he knew that Even was following him.

 

\--

 

“Shit, I missed you,” Even moaned against Isak’s neck, spreading his legs further, pulling Isak down for another deep, hectic kiss.

“Missed you, too,” Isak admitted, because why the fuck not at this point.

“Condom,” Even breathed out between kisses, moving to kiss Isak’s shoulder and collarbone when Isak stretched to reach his nightstand, throwing everything on the mattress before he dove into another kiss, a kiss that he could only describe as desperate.

“What do you want?” he asked, moving down Even’s body, then up again, kissing him everywhere, because he wanted to, marking his neck, because he felt like he needed to.

“Want you inside me,” Even panted, hands moving down to grab Isak’s ass, pulling him closer to make his desire clear.

And fuck, Isak was so on board with that.

Still, he paused for a second,

“You sure?”

“Absolutely sure,” Even said breathlessly, lifting his chin, and Isak leaned down to kiss him.

Kiss him, kiss him, kiss him, like there was no tomorrow, like he had wanted to for so long.

And since he was already kissing Even everywhere, he moved down further and further and further, until his lips reached Even’s hole, and he didn’t think twice before he started licking and sucking, Even’s moans louder than ever, his hands pushed deeply into Isak’s hair, pulling him closer, and Isak could barely breathe, but he sure as hell didn’t want to stop either.

He actually managed to make Even scream, and some other night, he would have been proud of himself for being so fucking good at it, tonight he only cared about Even, and he was glad and happy that he had brought him so much pleasure.

They kissed hectically afterwards, Isak fighting with the condom, Even reaching for him with want, pushing his hands all over Isak’s body, and Isak moaned his name when he finally pushed inside, reminding himself to go slow, to check with Even, to make sure it was good for him.

He added more lube, once, and then twice, and then a third time, making sure that Even was okay, kissing him, always kissing him.

It was quick and hectic and physical, and still somehow it meant so fucking much.

Isak thrusted into him, giving him his all, making sure to angle his hips right, making sure to set the right pace, making sure that Even would have the time of his life.

But when Isak looked down, looking at Even who stared at him like he hung the moon, he stopped caring.

He stopped caring about how perfectly tight Even felt around him, how hot he was, he stopped caring about naked bodies and about right angles and about their orgasms.

He slowly leaned down, reaching for both of Even’s hands to lace their fingers together as he kissed him.

Isak stopped moving altogether, just kissed and kissed and kissed, and when they finally broke their kiss, he leaned his forehead against Even’s, staring into his eyes, because it was all he wanted, to just look into Even’s eyes.

And it was that realization that eventually made him close his, because he started realizing something else.

He was so over the top in love with this idiot.

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> on a scale from 1 to 10, how awkward will the next morning be?
> 
> tell me what you think about this chapter, every comment warms my heart <3


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halla <3
> 
> I just did my nails, for those who are interested. Left hand dark forest green with a scattered holo flakies top coat, right hand golden holo glitter. I mean I know nobody asked, but hey.
> 
> So, this used to be the last chapter when I planned this story, but I decided to write one more, so enjoy the second to last chapter!
> 
> Let me know what you think and have fun reading. Thank you to all of you who left kudos or comments or who are nice to me on Twitter. I'm not exactly having the time of my life right now, so I just want you to know, as stupid as it sounds, small comments do mean something to me, it does take my mind off of some more unpleasent thoughts and it is just nice to read. So thank you <3
> 
> Now, enjoy!
> 
> alt er love <3 be kind

* * *

 

When Isak woke up the next morning, he did so to an arm wrapped around his waist and a head of gorgeous blond hair lying on his chest. There was a leg casually draped over his thigh, and there was warmth everywhere.

Isak closed his eyes when he remembered everything that had happened last night, and he didn’t exactly have to check their bodies under his covers to know that they were both butt naked.

Naked and tangled up and _cuddling_.

Isak sighed, running his free hand over his face, overwhelmed with so much Even in his bed, and so much happiness in his heart. This was what he wanted. Going to sleep with Even, waking up with Even, hearing Even breathe.

But he also knew that Even had a boyfriend now, and that all of those wishes were not going to come true any time soon.

Which was why Isak slowly tried to move away from Even, quietly tried to free his body, but Even just mumbled something in his sleep before pulling Isak closer again – and Isak didn’t fight him.

So he just kept lying there, moving his hand through Even’s sex hair, staring at his ceiling, a thousand thoughts fighting in his head.

 

When Even woke up half an hour later, he looked up at Isak with the most adorable, confused expression, before he slightly shook his head, clearing his throat,

“Morning,” he mumbled, and there was something in his voice that Isak couldn’t place.

“Morning,” Isak said back, smiling awkwardly when Even moved away from Isak, and he missed the warmth and heaviness instantly.

“Sorry about-“ Even started, gesturing towards Isak, and Isak’s heart broke a little,

“No, no, it’s- don’t worry about it,” Isak shrugged, clearing his throat again, cracking his knuckles.

They were quiet for a few moments, before Even started to shift, awkwardly trying to reach his boxers without dropping the duvet he had secured around his waist,

“I’m gonna- I should get some water, and then-“

“No,” Isak interrupted.

This was starting to top their post-sex conversation last time, the time when Isak had started talking about _buying his mattress on sale_ for crying out loud.

And Isak was not having it. Not this time.

“No,” he repeated, voice firm, determined to finally sort this out, “I need you to get dressed. And then sit down.”

“Okay?”

“We need to talk. Like, really talk,” Isak ordered, almost crawling over Even, still completely naked, to reach for a shirt and a pair of sweatpants, pulling them on before he sat crossed legged on his bed, gesturing to a speechless Even to do the same.

Even kept his eyes on Isak while he pulled up his underwear and then his jeans, reaching for what turned out to be one of Isak’s shirts, putting it on. It seemed like he was trying to anticipate what Isak wanted and he didn’t seem like he was expecting anything good.

When he finally sat down across from him, Isak instantly started talking,

“I have feelings for you,” he said quickly, not seeing any point to drag it out, “like, actual, romantic feelings. I’m really not into all of that cheesy couple-y shit, I don’t want to call you baby or hold your hand all the time, or text you a thousand heart emojis a day, but… I do want to have you… here. With me. As much as possible.”

He took a deep breath,

“And I know it’s weird that I, of all people, am saying that, and I’m sorry if it fucks with you or us or working together, but I just had to say it. I’m in love with you. More than friendship, more than just fucking, seriously in love with you. I know you don’t feel the same, and I know you are together with that guy now – jackass move to sleep with me while that’s still going on, but that’s your call – and I know that this – us – isn’t, like, _happening_ , but yeah. That’s what I wanted to say.”

He nodded, relieved that he had gotten everything out,

“Okay,” he finished, gesturing towards Even, “you go.”

It took a moment before there was a fond smile forming on Even’s face,

“You’re the world’s biggest fucking idiot, Valtersen.”

Isak rolled his eyes,

“Remember those social skills you bragged about? Now would be a good time to use them.”

Even laughed gently, reaching for Isak’s hand,

“You really have no idea, don’t you?”

Isak grew impatient. He wasn’t in the mood for Even’s stupid games, he wanted to get this thing done, he wanted to know where they stood, so he could throw Even out and know what to expect when he went back to work in two days.

“Just say whatever the fuck you-“

Isak gasped when Even pressed their lips together, interrupting him. It wasn’t the clear answer that Isak wanted, but hey, he wouldn’t complain as long as Even’s perfect lips were on his, as long as that perfect tongue was licking into his mouth.

It was short and sweet and perfect, and when Even pulled back, he laced their hands together,

“Okay, Master of social skills, I need you to listen now. First of all, that guy that you saw me with, he isn’t my boyfriend. We just hooked up. I didn’t want him to be my boyfriend, because I’m in love with someone else,” Even explained, squeezing Isak’s hand,

“And since you are the absolute worst at picking up any sign of human affection, I’m going to spell it out for you. I’m in love with _you_ , Valtersen. I have been pining for you for a long fucking time, to be honest.”

Isak couldn’t help but smile.

He tilted his head,

“What do you mean?”

“I saw you, way back, when the semester started. I saw you and I fucking fell for you right then, but you had sort of a, well, reputation, and I didn’t just want to be some guy you hooked up with, because I actually believe in love and all of that cheesy shit you hate so much.”

“You saw me when the semester started?” Isak repeated, and Even nodded,

“Yeah. And I really wanted to meet you, like, properly meet you. So when you started working at KB, I was so excited to spend time with you – but then you turned out to be a fucking asshole, so that crush I had on you was pretty much gone in a blink of an eye.”

Isak frowned, shaking his head,

“You were an asshole to me long before I was an asshole to you!”

“I saw you at that party, the night before we first met each other, and you left with that guy, and when you came in the next morning, with that stain on your shirt and your sex hair,” Even said, running a hand through Isak’s hair, “I was annoyed and jealous and I didn’t handle it very well. And then you called me homophobic and you insulted my music taste and you told me that every person studying art was fooling themselves into thinking that they did something meaningful and yeah – I sort of didn’t like you so much anymore.”

Isak winced,

“Sorry.”

Even shrugged, squeezing his hand again,

“Well, I could have talked to you or told you why I was behaving like I did, but, well, instead I made you feel bad about liking guys and liking sex and I always played music I knew you hated on purpose and I hung out with Jonas because I knew you’d hate that. So I did some pretty assholish things as well.”

Isak huffed out a laugh, nodding along.

“And since I didn’t _like_ you anymore, and I still found you hot as fuck, I figured there would be no harm in hooking up with you, if that was what you did with everyone. I thought I’d get it out of my system and then everything would be easier. But then that mouth of yours happened,” Even admitted, running a thumb over Isak’s upper lip, “and your eyes happened. And your dick.”

Isak giggled, rolling his eyes.

“And it just made me want you more. And then, out of nowhere, you turned out to be a decent human being. You didn’t give me shit for not drinking or for being a little down at that party. You were nice to me, sometimes. You watched Parks and Rec, and you fell in love with Li’l Sebastian.”

Isak smiled again, leaning in to peck Even’s lips,

“Well, he’s a miniature horse and he’s the best at it. Who wouldn’t love him?”

Even grinned, before he got a little more serious again,

“I missed you so fucking much when you were away.”

Isak frowned,

“Why did you hook up with someone else then? I got home and I was so fucking ready to talk to you about everything, and then you just stood there with _him_ , and-“

“Before you left, you called me your _friend_ ,” Even interrupted him, wincing a little.

Isak stilled, remembering that night they had hung out together before he had left,

“Shit.”

“Yeah. I mean, I wasn’t sure what you wanted from me, and I sort of got the feeling that you wanted… I don’t know, maybe something more. But then you said I was a _good friend_ , and well, I just figured that I would never have an actual chance with you, beyond having sex with you and maybe being your friend, and- I just wanted to get over you.”

Isak raised his eyebrows at Even, as if he wanted him to go on. Even rolled his eyes,

“And I wanted to see if I could make you jealous.”

Isak nodded, shrugging,

“Well, mission accomplished.”

“Looks like it,” Even smiled, pulling Isak in for another kiss, a little slower, a little deeper this time.

“I missed you, too,” Isak admitted, eyes still closed, when he pulled back a little, “I tried so hard to just have fun, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you the whole fucking trip.”

Even smiled, brushing a thumb over his cheek,

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you either,” he said, kissing Isak again, pushing him back until Isak was lying on his back, Even straddling his hips, smiling down at him.

“Did you sleep with that other guy?” Isak asked, looking up at Even, reaching up to play with his hair.

“Yeah,” Even said quietly.

There wasn’t any shame in his answer, and there wasn’t an accusation in Isak’s question. He just wanted to know. And Even, perfect, wonderful Even, seemed to understand that.

“Was it good?” Isak asked, his hand moving down over Even’s neck and over his back, stilling at his lower back.

“It was okay.”

“What did you do? Did you top?”

“Yeah.”

Isak tilted his head, both hands moving down to Even’s ass now,

“Which position did you use?”

Even didn’t question why Isak wanted to know, he just moved down to press wet kisses against Isak’s neck,

“He was lying on his side. I didn’t like it that much because I like, you know, looking at people.”

Isak couldn’t help but laugh, turning them around, sitting on Even’s hips now,

“You’re such a romantic, aren’t you. You have no idea what you’re missing. Did you ever have sex in doggy style?”

“Yes,” Even said, his hands on Isak’s hips, “well, only with Sonja, you know, my ex.”

“Well, you’re missing out,” Isak told him, placing kisses on top of Even’s shirt, kissing his chest and his nipples and his collarbone through the fabric, and then finally his neck, “it’s amazing. You can thrust really, really _deep_.”

Even’s breath hitched, and he reached for Isak again, pulling him down to him,

“Looks like you have a lot to teach me, Valtersen.”

Isak smirked,

“Happy to.”

Even pulled away when Isak wanted to kiss him, twisting away from him to reach for his phone,

“Let me just put on some Bon Jovi first.”

Isak hit him in the face with his pillow, and they laughed until Isak felt like he couldn’t breathe anymore.

And it was the most perfect way to lose his breath that he had ever experienced.

 

\--

 

“Oh god, oh shit, Isak,” Even moaned loudly, and Isak couldn’t help but giggle between his own moans,

“Told you it was good.”

“Shit, you’re so fucking tight,” Even groaned, his hands stroking Isak’s sides and his back.

“And you’re so fucking slow,” Isak moaned, “you don’t have to hold back, that’s the beauty of this position. Just give me- aah, fuck, exactly.”

“Yeah, you like that?” Even asked, and it didn’t sound like a line, it sounded like an actual question. Like he was trying to learn all of Isak’s favorites.

“Exactly like that,” Isak moaned, grinding back, clenching around Even, smiling at his loud moan.

Even thrusted into him, a little harder and a little deeper, and it wasn’t long before Isak was moaning at the top of his lungs, and Even wasn’t being much quieter.

 

\--

 

“What time is it?” Isak grumbled, eyes heavy, as he wiped his chest clean with a couple of tissues.

Even reached over him to check his phone,

“Around 16.”

“Jesus, no wonder I’m starving,” Isak sighed, stretching his body a little.

“Yeah, well, leftover pizza hardly counts as breakfast and you’ve been pretty physically active since then,” Even teased, pressing a kiss against Isak’s collarbone, and then his chest, and then he kept kissing down.

“Don’t,” Isak mumbled, running a hand through Even’s hair, “I think I need a minute.”

“Did I do it?” Even beamed proudly, kissing Isak’s abs, “did I tire out the king of sexual adventures himself?”

Isak rolled his eyes, gently pushing Even away,

“Idiot,” he said fondly, “don’t tell me you could go another round. We basically fucked all day.”

“I couldn’t get it up even if I wanted to right now,” Even admitted, lying down half on top of Isak, burying his head in the crook of Isak’ neck.

Isak laughed quietly, painting invisible patterns on Even’s back,

“Well, we should get food, and we should get some water, to regain some strength for the night. Because if you think I’m through with you, you’re mistaken.”

Even laughed, pecking Isak’s cheek,

“Good, cause I’m not through with you either. I always had a thing for your ass, Valtersen, but now I’m thinking I might develop a real obsession for it.”

Isak giggled, pressing a kiss to Even’s hair,

“Well, it’s just as obsessed with you. Come on, let’s order some food. I really don’t want to get out of this bed right now.”

“Me neither,” Even agreed, reaching for his phone, and they looked through different menus together, and when they were done ordering something, they spent their waiting time kissing.

 

\--

 

“You broke your rule,” Even observed, wiping his thumb over Isak’s lips, catching what was left smeared across them.

“What rule?” Isak asked, chasing Even’s fingers, until Even put them into his mouth, and he gently sucked them clean.

“Thought nobody was allowed to come in your mouth,” Even reminded him, leaning back, pulling Isak with him, who snuggled against Even’s chest and chuckled,

“Well, you have certain privileges now,” he said, voice tired and happy.

It was late, probably around midnight, and they were both tired and exhausted and happy.

All they did all day was cuddle and kiss and fuck and talk, and Isak couldn’t help but think that it had been the best day of his life.

Even smiled at him, that kind, fond smile that made Isak’s heart race, and he leaned in to kiss him, and even though he intended for it to be a quick goodnight kiss, he ended up deepening the kiss, until they were making out again, slowly and without any purpose this time, but they both didn’t make any move to pull back or stop.

They fell asleep in each other’s arms around two hours later, and Isak felt like his whole world was perfect.

 

\--

 

“Good morning tiger,” Even grinned, kissing Isak playfully.

Isak groaned, turning away from him a little,

“First, you have really bad breath,” he mumbled, “and second, don’t call me tiger.”

“Feisty,” Even teased back, taking Isak’s hand to play with his fingers, “and you know, if you want a blowjob before you go to sleep, you’re going to have to deal with bad breath in the morning,” he said, mouthing at Isak’s jaw.

Isak laughed, eyes closed, as he turned around to lie on his side, facing Even,

“You’re an idiot, you know that?”

“So you keep saying,” Even grinned, and this time it was Isak who leaned in, catching Even’s lips in a deep, slow kiss.

Even rolled around to lie on top of him,

“Hate to break it to you, baby, but your breath doesn’t really smell any better.”

“Fuck you,” Isak mumbled, tilting his head up, and Even leaned down to kiss him again.

They made out lazily for a while, until Even pulled back a little,

“Can I ask you a question about that?”

“About bad breath?”

Even rolled his eyes,

“No, genius, not about bad breath. Well, sort of. Last night, you said that I was allowed to come in your mouth because I have certain privileges now.”

Isak hummed, reaching up to run a hand through Even’s hair,

“Yeah. So?”

“Um… what kind of privileges? Like, what exactly are we?”

“Uhh, time to have _the talk_?” Isak said, stressing every word overdramatically.

Even rolled his eyes, reaching for a pillow to throw it at Isak,

“Fuck you.”

“Fine, fine, you’re right,” Isak admitted, sitting up, pulling the duvet over his lap once he was sitting comfortably against the headboard.

Even sat up, too, pulling the other end of the duvet over himself as he sat crossed leg across from Isak, cracking his knuckles when he started talking,

“I mean, I love being in our little bubble, and I’d love to just stay in your room for eternity, and to just have sex and talk and not care about anything else out there, but we do have to go to work again at some point, and we do have to talk to our friends eventually. I mean, I’m a little surprised that Jonas isn’t standing outside of your room right now with a whip, forcing us to define the relationship,” he chuckled, stopping when Isak raised his eyebrows in question,

“What do you mean? Like, why would he have a whip?”

Even shook his head, almost as if he was trying to understand if Isak was joking or not,

“Um. It’s a _How I met your mother_ reference.”

“Oh. I kind of stopped watching after season three or something.”

“Why?!”

“It got boring. And it’s way over the top, and Ted’s acting like an entitled asshole half the time, and the ending is just horrible.”

“Thought you didn’t watch it until the end.”

“Yeah, I mean, I didn’t watch every episode, I still watched every other episode when they were on TV or when Jonas was watching it.”

“Oh my god, occasionally watching a show is even worse than stopping to watch a show!” Even cried, staring at Isak in obvious shock.

Isak rolled his eyes,

“Okay, Master of cinematography, could you dial down the film critic in you for a second?”

“Do you even know what the word cinematography means?” Even asked, making a gesture for Isak to explain it.

Isak stared at him for a moment, before he sighed heavily,

“I know what it _means_ , but we should talk about what you wanted to talk about. Like, relationship shit.”

“Because you don’t know what it means!”

“ _Even_!”

“ _Fine_!” Even sighed, but he was grinning, and Isak couldn’t help but grin, too.

They smiled at each other for a second, before Isak cleared his throat,

“I don’t exactly know how you define relationships, but for me, being in love with you pretty much just means that I want you to be happy and if you let me, I want to do everything to make that happen. And I want you to be here, and if you’re not, I want to feel like you are, you know, I want to text you and know how you are, so that I would know if you’re happy. That’s sort of it.”

Even nodded,

“That’s a really sweet definition of a relationship. Of love, really.”

Isak smiled, putting his hand on Even’s knee, squeezing lightly,

“I get if you need more than that, though. All of that cheesy, couple-y stuff.”

“Not necessarily. Like, not if you hate it that much,” Even shrugged.

“Okay, what are things that you would necessarily need? Like, what is the most important aspect of a relationship for you?”

“Well, I want what you want, I want you to be happy and I want to be around to make you happy, but also because being around you makes me pretty happy. I want you to be the person I talk to about the important things and the not so important things. I want to be close to you, like, I want to know what’s going on in your life and in your head, and I want to be close to you like this, like kissing and sex and everything. And I would sort of like to be the only one who gets to have sex with you while we’re dating. Like, I would want to be, what do you call it, exclusive.”

Isak nodded,

“I can do that.”

“Okay.”

“Can I still, like, flirt with other guys? Dance with them at parties, that kind of stuff?” he asked.

Even shrugged,

“Yeah, sure. You will find other guys hot, I will find other people attractive as well, of course. But I don’t want you to kiss anyone else, or have sex with them. For me, sex is pretty intimate, and I know you don’t share that view, but I don’t know if I could handle you sleeping with other people.”

Isak squeezed his knee again,

“No, it’s okay. My view on sex may be a little different, but that doesn’t mean that I’m completely against monogamy or need to have sex with different people. This is good, being exclusive. We can be exclusive.”

“Okay,” Even said, letting out a relieved breath.

Isak smiled, leaning back a little more, pulling his knees up to sit more comfortable,

“I want us to be completely honest with each other. Even if one of us fucks up, even if we do something bad, whatever. I don’t like secrets and I am a pretty forgiving person if people tell me things, just- lying to me, that would be a dealbreaker.”

Even nodded,

“I completely agree. So, that means that we basically want to be close to each other, we will be monogamous, and we both want to be able to trust each other.”

Isak smiled,

“That sounds perfect to me. Is there anything else you would want out of a relationship? Like, anything else that is essential to you?”

Even looked like he was considering for a moment, before he cleared his throat,

“You would have to be aware that I could get episodes from time to time, and it’s probably not going to be good when that happens. I take medication, and I see a therapist, so I’ve got everything handled as far as I can, but it can still happen.”

“That’s okay. We can talk about that right now, or we can have an entire evening soon where you can just talk me through everything? Maybe explain to me what I should do when it happens or how to react, or something. Or we can just learn as we go. It’s your call.”

Even smiled, shaking his head, before crawling towards Isak a little, giving him a gentle, loving kiss,

“You really are fucking perfect sometimes.”

Isak chuckled, running a hand through Even’s hair, his hand resting on Even’s cheek afterwards,

“You’re already saying cheesy things,” he complained gently, kissing Even again, before pulling back,

“I mean it, though. With you mental health, everything’s going to be your call. I’ll just be here, and I’ll try my best, whether that’s holding your hand and researching your meds and bringing you food, or if it’s backing off for a month or two to let you heal on your own.”

“You’re perfect,” Even repeated, “I mean, I knew you were a decent person and I knew I wanted you, but hell, you’re such a sweetheart underneath all of your nasty personality.”

“Ugh, shut up,” Isak grinned, pushing Even away a little.

“I do think we should have a night where we can sort of talk about just stuff that you need to know, or stuff that I want you to know. If that’s okay.”

“That’s good,” Isak agreed, “I want to tell you some things, too. I mean, I know sleeping problems aren’t the same as what you deal with, but they affect me, sometimes, so you should know some things about that as well.”

“It’s a date,” Even decided, gently patting Isak’s knee.

“Okay.”

“And as for the couple-y, romantic stuff, I really don’t need any of that. We don’t have to change our personalities just because we’re dating. I’m not going to stop teasing you and annoying you, nothing really has to change,” Even promised, before he frowned, “well, I do have a thing for nicknames, so be prepared for that, but I won’t force you to listen to Bon Jovi or to have sex under the stars.”

“Perfect,” Isak grinned, “although sex outside might be something we should consider.”

Even laughed,

“That’s a discussion for another time.”

“It is,” Isak agreed, leaning in for another kiss, “How about,” he said against Even’s lips, “I sneak out and get us some breakfast,” he kissed Even’s chin and jaw, slowly moving up to his ear, “and then when I could show you how little of a gag reflex I have so you can make use of your privileges some more,” he smiled when Even moaned softly, “and then we should probably take a shower and open a window in here, because it is not pretty anymore.”

Even burst out laughing, leaning against Isak until he fell back and he settled between Isak’s spread legs, the by now tangled duvet between them,

“Sounds perfect,” he mumbled, “boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend,” Isak repeated, “Interesting.”

“We are friends who have exclusive sex with each other, want to make each other happy and who will call each other baby from time to time,” Even grinned, pressing a kiss against Isak’s lips, “Face it, Valtersen, we’re boyfriends now.”

Isak smiled, using both of his hands to pull Even down and into a deep, passionate kiss,

“Can’t complain.”

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really interested in how you liked their talk! I noticed that a lot of times, when people get together, they just announce that they are together/ in a relationship now, but they don't always talk about what that means, so I really wanted our boys to have a talk about their definition of relationship and set some rules and share their ideals and thoughts.  
> I hope you liked it and didn't find it boring or anything.
> 
> See you in a few days for the last chapter <3 (hopefully friday, maybe?)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halla <3
> 
> I've been having a really bad day today and I didn't really feel like posting anything, but then I thought maybe someone else out there is having a bad day as well, and maybe this could cheer them up. So, here we are.
> 
> I realize that the story line pretty much ended with the last chapter, because they are together and they are happy and spoiler alert, that won't change this chapter, but I'm always one of those people who are sad when stories like these just end with them getting together because I always think "Noooo I want to see HOW they are together" and since I can do what I want in this universe, I did just that.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it, if you do, please let me know! I'm not sure if and when I'll be able to post something again, because honestly, my life is not doing so good right now, so I hope you enjoy this and we'll just see. Feel free to follow me on Twitter (@skambition) for updates on new stories and small Evak moments every now and then <3 and some emotional tweets because guess what, I'm only human!
> 
> I really hope you guys enjoy this and it puts a smile on somebodys face. That's the whole reason for this chapter to be honest!
> 
> alt er love <3 be kind

* * *

 

The next day, they woke up together again, and after an hour of passionate sex and another hour of cuddling, there was no way that they could ignore the loud grumbling of Isak’s stomach anymore.

“Maybe we should have breakfast. You want me to sneak out and get us some cereal?” Even asked, kissing Isak’s chest.

Isak sighed, gently patting Even’s ass,

“Nah, I’m afraid we have to get out of this room eventually.”

“So, proper sit-down breakfast in the kitchen?”

“I’m afraid so,” Isak said, pushing Even off of him to get up and get dressed.

Of course they had left Isak’s room in the last three days to use the bathroom and eat and shower, but they hadn’t really _left_ Isak’s room properly, spending every second possible in there and together.

Which, apparently, Jonas had noticed, since he whistled when they walked into the kitchen together,

“Woah. Isak and Even in my kitchen, fully dressed and everything!”

“So now it is your kitchen?” Isak just asked, rolling his eyes.

“I didn’t see you guys in more than a day! I mean, you told me Even’s stamina was ‘off the charts’, but three days still is impressive!”

Even smirked, turning to Isak,

“You told him that?”

“He must have misunderstood me,” Isak lied, gently touching Even’s bicep,

“Do you want some coffee?”

“I’d rather have tea, if you have some,” Even said, leaning in for a quick kiss, and Isak smiled against his lips, before pointing at the shelf they kept their very minimal selection of tea on.

“Well this is just neat,” Jonas jumped in, leaning back with a wide grin.

“Jesus, can you give it a rest?” Isak asked impatiently, but he couldn’t quite stop smiling to himself, and he knew that Jonas would keep teasing and he would enjoy every second of it.

“Well, after you two didn’t _give it a rest_ for three days now, I think it’s only fair I get to have some fun for a change. It’s a wonder either of you can still walk.”

Even chuckled,

“Yeah, this one is kind of insatiable,” he grinned, gesturing towards Isak, who was taking an innocent sip of his coffee, shrugging,

“It’s the side effect of having a hot boyfriend,” he said, looking at Even for a second with a soft smile.

“Wow, you guys are boyfriends now?” Jonas asked, taking another sip of his coffee.

“Looks like it,” Even smiled, pouring the boiling water over his teabag, while Isak put two toasts into the toaster, “I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”

“Yeah,” Jonas smiled, and it wasn’t smug or teasing anymore, “I’m glad things worked out for the two of you.”

“Thanks,” Isak smiled back, “me too.”

Even gently hugged him from behind, pressing a kiss against Isak’s temple, before he walked over to the fridge,

“I could make eggs if you guys want some?”

“Sounds perfect,” Jonas said, taking another sip of his coffee, “so, is this, like, official? Because Eva is sort of waiting on updates.”

Isak laughed and rolled his eyes,

“Why the fuck does she wait on updates?”

“Because I have been sleeping at her place the last few days, because it was just impossible to get any sleep here. Also, your phone has been out of battery for the last two days, and I had to tell her that you didn’t die.”

“Well, it’s pretty official, I’d say,” Isak said, smiling at Even, leaning against the counter, “feel free to tell her.”

Jonas grinned, looking at his phone to text Eva, and Isak used that small break to look over to Even, look at him while he started to prepare everything for their breakfast and yep, he could so get used to this.

“So, Even, you should probably know some of our house rules,” Jonas started when he put his phone away.

“Since when do we have house rules?” Isak asked with a frown.

“Since always. You’re just too lazy to respect any of them,” Jonas pointed out.

“I was afraid that he wasn’t exactly the homebuddy type,” Even nodded, wincing.

“You have no idea,” Jonas jumped right in, “you will have to feed him three times a day, because he is not capable of cooking or to buy groceries. Which is why it’s pointless to tell you to only eat food out of his shelf, because as you can see-“ Jonas gestured up to the shelf, “it’s empty.”

“Oh wow,” Even frowned, pouring the eggs into the pan, “that’s pathetic, Valtersen.”

“He _is_ kind of pathetic,” Jonas agreed, looking at Even almost in sympathy, and Isak groaned,

“This is how it’s going to be from now on? Isn’t the fact that you’re my boyfriend now supposed to mean that you have my back?” he asked Even.

“You wish, sex hair,” Even teased, gently slapping Isak’s ass, “you wish.”

 

\--

 

“I always wondered what you would taste like after drinking all of your iced coffees,” Even said against Isak’s mouth, teasingly licking across his bottom lip.

“Oh yeah?” Isak asked, lifting his hands to move his arms loosely around Even’s neck, “and? Is it as good as you imagined?”

“Better,” Even promised, kissing Isak again, slow and deep this time, and Isak sighed happily when they pulled apart,

“You have no ideas how many work hours I spend just staring at you and fantasizing about you.”

“Oh, I could tell,” Even grinned, pressing his lips against Isak’s neck, slowly starting to suck.

“Ouch,” Isak said, pushing Even away, “you can’t put another hickey on my neck, people already think I was choked or something.”

“I can’t help it, your neck is so delicious,” Even mumbled against Isak’s bruises.

Isak laughed quietly, letting his head fall against Even’s shoulder,

“Idiot.”

“We should probably clean up soon. We’ve been closed for like an hour already,” Even sighed, running his hand through Isak’s hair.

“We could do that,” Isak agreed, pulling back and smirking up at Even,

“Or… we could get a little more dirty before we clean up.”

 

\--

 

“So, Isak,” Elias said, voice all strict, “what are your intentions with my Even?”

Mutta burst out laughing, while Even rolled his eyes dramatically,

“This is exactly why I can’t bring anyone over, ever.”

“My intention is to annoy the shit out of him, Sir,” Isak said, playing along, “and having intense sexual intercourse with him at very inappropriate hours.”

“Well, good, son,” Elias nodded, trying not to laugh, “this is a fine young man, Even, hold on to him.”

Even buried his face in both of his hands,

“You guys are ridiculous,” he sighed.

Isak giggled as he took a sip of his beer.

“But seriously, I’m so happy that it worked out for you two,” Mutta smiled, mouth full of the burger they had just made, “Even was getting so exhausting.”

Isak grinned,

“Oh really.”

“Yeah, he’s been annoying us long before he’s been annoying you,” Elias stressed, jumping when Even kicked him under the table, “dude, chill. Isak already knows you’re a helpless loser.”

“He called you angel,” Mutta said with a smirk, and Isak laughed,

“Seriously?”

“I called him angelic. I was commenting on his bone structure, from an artistic point of view,” Even tried to defend himself.

“Well, I guess now you’re concerning yourself with a different kind of _bone structure_ , if you know what I mean,” Elias grinned, and Isak and Mutta couldn’t stop themselves from laughing, while Even just rolled his eyes, trying to act annoyed.

Isak leaned over when he had recovered from his laughter, pressing a greasy kiss to Even’s cheek,

“I like your friends.”

“Well, take ‘em, I don’t think I like them anymore,” Even mumbled, but he said it with a smile on his face.

“Oh please, you adore us,” Mutta said, wiggling his brows at Even.

“There’s only one person at this table I actually adore,” Even said, smiling at Isak, who rolled his eyes fondly, leaning in for a kiss,

“I adore you right back, baby,” he whispered into Even’s ear when they pulled back, blushing a little.

 

\--

 

“I can’t believe you guys are an actual couple now, like, romance and everything,” Magnus cheered, looking back and forth between Isak and Even like he didn’t know which one of them to hug first.

“Yeah, we regret it already, but we’re both too proud to admit it,” Even joked as they sat down, and Isak giggled, gently slapping Even’s chest,

“Stop!”

They were all having lunch together, which was a rare occasion because all of their schedules didn’t exactly match. Once a week though, it was actually possible to meet between classes for a long, relaxed meal. Isak liked it. He liked their friends. Most of the time, at least.

“So now, instead of sexual tension, your customers have to deal with actual sexual content all the time?” Mahdi teased.

“Exactly,” Isak rolled his eyes, “that’s what we do, he takes orders while I give him blowjobs.”

“Well, if anybody would be horny enough to do that, it’d be you,” Elias mumbled, “it’s insane how much sex you guys have.”

“I’m just glad they finally went over to your place for a change,” Jonas agreed.

“I think it’s nice to have Isak over,” Mutta beamed, “it’s been a while since I had some real competition in FIFA.”

“Well, you and your PS4 are the true reason I hang out at your place,” Isak promised, “that I get to bang this idiot afterwards is just a nice addition.”

“Careful now, or Even will get jealous again,” Mikael grinned.

“I’m so not the jealous type,” Even tried, but his friends were not having it.

“You told me to stay away from Isak the first night we all hung out together,” Mutta stabbed him in the back with a big grin, and Isak elbowed Even into the side,

“You told him that?!”

“Well, I already had to witness you dryhumping that dude that looked an awful lot like me, like, twice, I didn’t want you to have sex with the guy I actually share a wall with,” Even defended himself.

“Why not, you could have joined,” Isak teased, gently biting Even’s earlobe.

Elias and Mahdi groaned in playful disgust, while Mutta leaned back with a grin,

“Plus, Isak and I would have never slept together, anyway.”

“Yeah, what we have is so much deeper and more meaningful than sex,” Isak agreed, smirking at Even with a challenging look.

“You should be so glad that you managed to get the hot one out of this group,” Even mumbled, his hand gently stroking Isak’s thigh, ignoring how all of his friends protested loudly.

Isak laughed, running a hand through Even’s hair,

“Yeah, right. You’re bearable at best, babe. I bet Mutta has Spotify playlists that don’t make me want to get my ears cut off.”

“ _Optimist_ is a classic, Valtersen, and we both know it,” Even teased back, his hand still stroking Isak’s thigh, as he leaned in and kissed Isak’s cheek.

“You’re the worst,” Isak said fondly.

“Well, nice to see that not only are they just as annoying as before, now they are constantly touching, too,” Jonas deadpanned.

“So annoying on so many levels,” Elias agreed.

Isak just smiled.

This was exactly what he had always wanted.

Someone to annoy and tease and joke around with.

And, occasionally, hold their hand.

 

\--

 

Being with Even was so easy most of the time that Isak caught himself getting suspicious every now and then, because he just couldn’t believe that two people would just _fit_ like that.

When he had his very first boyfriend, he had been so in love and so wrapped up in just being with him, that he had given up pretty much all of himself in the process. The second time he had dated someone, the same had happened again, and he saw it happening over and over and over, people giving up their friends and their hobbies and themselves to be with someone, prioritizing their relationship over everything that they were and liked and Isak hated that.

With Even, it was different.

Because Even kept his distance. Even didn’t expect Isak to prioritize him over Jonas, to be with him all the time, to give up any of himself.

Isak texted him because he wanted to, not because he felt obligated to, and Even didn’t request that they needed to text every second of their day. Sometimes they did, but sometimes, when they were with their friends, or at work, or at uni, they didn’t, and neither of them made a big deal out of it.

Everything they did, they did because they felt like it, because it made them happy, and for the first time in a relationship, Isak didn’t feel uncomfortable or strangled.

Isak loved it when Even was around, and he loved how he got to be himself, how they both got to have their own opinions and their own personalities, even while he was holding Even’s hand or kissing him.

He was so in love with Even, and even more than that, he was in love with what they had, how they managed to talk about their relationship, how they managed to stay free and independent, and they still weren’t afraid to show how much they cared about each other.

It was easily the best relationship Isak had ever had and he made sure that, between all of their mean comments and stupid fights and all of their teasing, Even _knew_ just how perfect he was for Isak.

 

\--

 

“This is so nice,” Isak mumbled, leaning into Even’ soft touch.

They were showering together, and Even was washing Isak’s hair.

“Well, you had come in it,” Even said matter-of-factly, massaging Isak’s scalp, who huffed out a laugh,

“Whose fault was that?”

“It was the most sex hair I’ve ever seen on you, that’s for sure,” Even grinned, pecking Isak’s lips.

Isak chuckled, leaning his head back to rinse out his shampoo, Even’s hand still in his hair,

“I love you.”

Even stilled for a moment, before he beamed at him, and Isak groaned,

“Do not make a big deal out of it! I just love you, no reason to turn on Bon Jovi or whatever is going on in that overly-romantic head of yours.”

“Well, thank you for destroying a magical moment like that,” Even rolled his eyes, turning the water off, “and I’m not overly romantic.”

“You are,” Isak insisted, reaching for his shower gel, massaging it into his own chest, before he ran his hands over Even’s chest, “don’t deny it.”

“Well, just for the record, it wouldn’t have killed you to just keep your fucking mouth shut and smile and wait for me to say it back,” Even shot back, as he started spreading the shower gel over Isak’s back.

“Oh, you were going to say it back, now, were you?” Isak teased, giving Even’s ass a pinch, before he turned the water back on, rinsing the foam off their skin.

“Not like this I won’t!” Even teased, leaning in for a quick kiss, “I would have said it back if you would have said it last night, when we made love-“

Isak groaned in disgust. He hated it when Even called it that.

“-or if you would have said it this morning, when we woke up together-“

“With come in my hair.”

“I put the come in your hair after we woke up together, so that’s not really an argument,” Even argued, turning the water off.

Isak just chuckled, reaching for a towel,

“You telling me that I had sex hair was the exact moment that I wanted to tell you that. That’s about as romantic as it will get with me. Deal with it.”

“You’re exhausting, Valtersen,” Even mumbled, reaching for the other towel, running it over his hair and body.

Isak just laughed, leaning in to peck Even’s lips, before he tied his towel around his waist and left the bathroom.

Isak normally just said what he felt, and this had been no exception.

He had always felt like expecting someone not only to feel the same way at the same time, but also expecting them to express that feeling right then and there was highly unfair. He didn’t tell Even that he loved him for Even, it was just for Isak, to communicate his feelings towards him.

He was over the top in love and happy, and he wanted to tell Even that, and if Even wanted to wait for a magical, overly romantic moment, Isak was so fine with it.

In fact, he was already looking forward to that moment. Whenever it would come.

 

\--

 

“Shit, we really need to get condoms,” Isak sighed, “again.”

“Yeah, about that,” Even said, pulling on his boxers, “can we talk about that for a second?”

“Condoms?” Isak asked, still distracted by going through the drawer of his nightstand, “yeah, I’ll get the durex ones next time, the cheap ones weren’t as good, right? Have you ever tried the ones that are ripped? They are pretty nice.”

“Not exactly what I wanted to talk about,” Even chuckled, reaching for Isak’s hand, running his own hand up Isak’s arm, and then behind his neck, pulling him closer until Isak laid down beside him with a sigh, reaching out to play with Even’s hair,

“What did you want to talk about, then?”

“We didn’t really discuss this yet, but would you like to- well, not use condoms at any point?”

Isak frowned,

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we don’t have sex with anyone else, so… we could just fuck without condoms. I mean, we would have to get tested before we could, but… yeah. If you wanted to,” Even said, and he seemed a little shy.

Isak took his hand, squeezing it,

“Sounds like _you_ want that.”

“I- Yeah, I mean, having sex without a condom would be more… intense. Intimate. I’d like to be close to you without anything between us,” Even admitted, and Isak smiled at him,

“Hopeless romantic.”

“I also want to come inside you and see you dripping with it,” Even said, looking straight into Isak’s eyes as he said it, and boy, Isak couldn’t help but shiver at that.

He cleared his throat,

“Okay. I mean, I personally think that condoms are a pretty nice way to deal with, well, all the mess, but it’s actually starting to get kind of expensive. And, um, now that you mention come dripping out of places, I might just be on board.”

Even chuckled,

“I know you by now. I know how to get my way.”

Isak grinned, leaning in for a kiss,

“I also think it’s nice that you want us to be closer to each other, have sex without barriers, or whatever. I wouldn’t really define that over the question whether we wear condoms or not, but if barebacking is something that you find hot and that you want for us… I’m in.”

“Yeah?” Even asked, pressing his lips against Isak’s, slowly licking into his mouth.

Isak hummed against Even’s lips, fisting his hand into his hair,

“You’re hot when you talk about stuff like that.”

“Thought I was always hot,” Even teased, smiling when Isak rolled around to settle on top of him.

“In certain lighting, you’re not bad to look at,” Isak teased right back, leaning down to gently bite Even’s nipple.

Even moaned quietly, reaching for the waistband of Isak’s boxers, frowning when Isak swatted his hand away,

“No, babe, we only have, like, ten condoms left, we need to start dividing them up until we get tested.”

Even laughed, rolling them around, sighing happily when he settled between Isak’s legs.

Isak couldn’t help but smile. Every time they were lying like this, Even looked like it was his favorite place in the world, and somehow, Isak couldn’t help but agree. It did look good.

And it felt even better.

“I’ll buy some more tomorrow. The durex ones. The ripped ones,” Even promised, mouthing at Isak’s neck.

“Well, in that case,” Isak panted, moaning loudly when Even cupped him over his boxers.

“ _Could you guys give it a fucking rest?! It’s two in the fucking morning and I have an early lecture tomorrow! Jesus Christ!_ ” Jonas yelled through the wall, and Isak and Even stared at each other for a second, before they both chuckled, and Isak cleared his throat,

“Maybe we shouldn’t piss him off too much. Is it okay if we just sleep?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty tired,” Even admitted, rolling off Isak.

“And you need to work tomorrow,” Isak reminded him, a hand on Even’s arm, always searching for contact.

“I don’t like working without you,” Even whispered, turning off the lamp on the nightstand, smiling when Isak pressed his chest against Even’s back, cuddling him.

“I could pick you up when your shift ends and we could hang out at your place,” Isak suggested, pressing a kiss against Even’s neck, “give Jonas a little break.”

Even smiled, his hand moving to lie over Isak’s on his chest,

“That sounds nice,” he agreed, voice sleepy, “Good night.”

“Night, baby,” Isak whispered.

 

\--

 

“I like that summer is ending,” Isak smiled, burying his hands in the pockets of Even’s hoodie.

“Really?” Even asked, “normally, people hate the end of summer.”

“Normally, people are stupid,” Isak shot back, bumping their shoulders together while they were walking.

They had been at some party, and now they were walking home together. They were both sober, because Isak hadn’t felt like drinking when Even wasn’t, and it had been fun either way. Even and Eva had gotten along great, checking out hot guys, while Isak had enjoyed spending some time with Jonas and the other guys.

It had been a fun night, but they hadn’t seen much of each other, and Isak liked that he got Even all to himself for the rest of the night.

“Hey, you want to walk along the river a little?” Even suggested, gesturing to take a right, and Isak shrugged,

“If you want. I bet it’s going to rain soon, though.”

“Nah, it won’t,” Even shook his head, nodding into the direction he wanted to go, and Isak rolled his eyes as he followed,

“Since when are you a fucking weatherman?”

“Stop being so fucking annoying,” Even shot back, wrapping Isak into a quick hug from the side, pressing a few wet kisses against his cheek.

They walked down the street and along the river, and Isak liked the quiet between them, the way Even’s footsteps sounded next to him. It was more than enough for Isak, just to have Even walk beside him, not holding hands, not touching, just being there was enough. He loved it.

He loved him.

“I hate you,” Isak hissed when the first rain drop hit his face, “I fucking told you it would rain!”

“Yeah, well, let’s go home, then,” Even decided, not seeming too upset, tugging on the sleeve of Isak’s – Even’s, actually – now damp hoodie, leading him up a few stairs to the street.

“Ugh, it’s pouring,” Isak complained, “If my phone doesn’t survive this, you’re going to buy the next ten packages of condoms, I swear to God.”

“Hey, Valtersen, wait,” Even said, and Isak turned around.

And bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling.

Even was standing in front of Kaffebrenneriet – _their_ Kaffebrenneriet – in the moonlight, in the rain, under the stars.

Well, it was raining, so technically there weren’t any stars actually visible, but they were there.

Even cleared his throat, smiling at Isak, who pushed both of his hands into the pocket of his – Even’s – hoodie, tilting his head in anticipation.

“I love you, Isak,” Even said, a beaming smile on his wet face, raindrops falling from his hair, “I found you beautiful the first time I saw you, and I found you smoking hot the first time you walked into this place. I did find you a very annoying when we first talked. But when we first kissed, I found you pretty perfect. And all of the other firsts after that, I just kept falling for you, deeper and deeper, until-“

Even shrugged, still smiling,

“Until now. I love you, Valtersen. And I can’t wait for a thousand new firsts with you.”

Isak was _so_ close to rolling his eyes. So close to teasing Even, for the place and the time and the setting, for his overly romantic words, and for how fucking big of a deal he made out of something that Isak had told him weeks ago, when Even had washed come out of his hair.

But he didn’t.

He just smiled back, walking over to Even slowly, until he was standing in front of him, one of his hands pushing some wet hair away from Even’s face, before he cupped Even’s wet face with both of his hands,

“I love you, too, Even. I always found you hot. And then I found you decent. And as of recently, I found you to be just _right_ ,” he whispered, “and, well, right now, I find you a little bit ridiculous,” he grinned, winking at Even, who laughed, resting his arms on Isak’s shoulders, blinking at him with raindrops in his eyes, “but,” Isak continued, “I don’t care how ridiculous you are. Because I love all of you. With all of me.”

“Shit,” Even said, nodding, obviously impressed with Isak’s speech.

“Shut up,” Isak whispered, pressing their lips together in a perfect, sloppy, wet movie kiss, pressing his wet body against Even’s, licking into his mouth, sighing happily at the closeness and the taste.

They stood in the rain and kissed and kissed and kissed, and it was perfect.

“I’m getting cold,” Isak whispered after a while, giving Even another quick kiss.

“Let’s go home then,” Even agreed, pecking Isak’s lips one last time, before they pulled apart, just enough so they could start walking.

“That was perfect,” Even sighed, and he seemed so happy that Isak chuckled,

“Well, I got my unromantic I love you moment, you are allowed to have yours.”

“Thank you.”

“Just so you know, you’ve reached my limit of romanticness for this year, and from now on it’s going to be all shower-come-in-my-hair moments, and not this ridiculous crap,” Isak couldn’t help but tease.

Because it was what he did.

“Pretty sure romanticness is not a word, genius,” Even mocked back.

Because it was what they did.

 

\--

 

“You’re late,” Jonas greeted them when they arrived at dinner, and Isak really hoped that non of his idiot friends would comment on his hair.

“Well, what’s a real dinner between friends without Isak having perfect sex hair?” Even teased, and sure, Isak had forgotten that out of all of his idiot friends, his idiot boyfriend was most likely to make fun of him.

“Fuck you,” he grumbled, gently slapping Even’s stomach, “Don’t expect me to do _that_ ever again.”

“Speaking of which; did you guys figure out whose theory was right?” Jonas asked, leaning back with a grin.

“If you’re talking about the olive theory, we are a full on match on that,” Even said, somehow proudly.

“I’m not talking about the fucking olive theory,” Jonas rolled his eyes.

“Wasn’t it completely overthrown by Lily and Marshal anyway?” Mahdi asked with a frown, and Even rolled his eyes, ready to say something back, when Isak interrupted them,

“The fuck is an olive theory?”

Jonas stared at him for a second, before leaning into Even’s space a little,

“Dump him before it’s too late,” he whispered loudly, and Isak rolled his eyes.

“They’re talking about the theories you guys had about fucking,” Magnus explained, gesturing back and forth between Isak and Even.

“Jesus,” Isak mumbled under his breath.

“What, you said sex can only be good if you’re experienced-“

“I never said that, I just said that you can be objectively good at certain things and that you need to talk about what you want in order for it to be good,” Isak summed up, staring at his menu.

“And you still think that’s more important than caring about the other person?” Even asked innocently, tilting his head with a challenging grin.

Isak rolled his eyes,

“Well, being objectively good at certain things and talking about likes and dislikes is much more fun with my boyfriend than it was with anyone else, so yeah, Bon Jovi, the fact that I love you does work in your favor.”

The guys grinned happily, Magnus reaching over the table for Even to fist-bump him, and even though Even seemed to be confused why, he still smiled and did it.

“I can’t decide if I like Isak better now that he’s in love and everything or if he’s even more annoying,” Mahdi mused, Jonas nodding along as if he had been thinking the same.

“Well, I find him endlessly more annoying,” Even grinned, leaning in to kiss Isak, “but I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

And Isak ignored his friend’s cat calling when he kissed back.

 

“We have to be quick,” Isak breathed against Even’s lips, fisting a hand into his hair, “and you can’t get spunk on my bedding again, I just did laundry.”

“Actually,” Even panted, pulling back a little, “I wanted to talk about something?”

“What?” Isak asked, hands roaming over Even’s chest.

“Relationship stuff,” Even said breathlessly, both hands on Isak’s hips now to push him back a little.

Isak groaned, leaning his head on Even’s shoulder for a second, before he looked up again,

“Fine,” he sighed, “but you need to give me a minute because I don’t feel like having serious talks when I’m hard.”

“I actually wanted to talk about our sex life,” Even specified, stepping back to sit down on Isak’s bed.

“Well, then we might as well do it now, that’ll get me hard anyway,” Isak deadpanned, giggling when Even reached out to slap his thigh.

Isak sat down beside him, turning around a little to switch on the lamp on his nightstand, the one that Even repeatedly called completely hideous,

“What do you want to talk about, baby?”

“It’s sort of about what the guys said, about those theories we had,” Even admitted, and Isak rolled his eyes,

“You’re all making a way too big deal out of it. You’re the best sex I ever had, baby, and it is a lot better because we love each other – but I still think that open communication is key, and that opinion is not going to change and-“

“Isak, no, that’s not what I meant. I agree with that, I agree that we should talk about stuff, so that it’s, um, good. Between us. I’m just- I think I didn’t talk to you about everything the way that I should have.”

Even looked down at his hands, and even in the dimmed lighting Isak didn’t miss that he was blushing a little. He reached over to put a reassuring hand on Even’s thigh,

“Hey. There’s nothing you can’t tell me.”

Even smiled, leaning in for a quick peck, before he pulled back again,

“I- the other night, before we talked and got together and stuff- what you did that night- I really liked that. And I didn’t know if it was okay to ask, or to expect for you to do it again, it’s just-“

“You want me to rim you?” Isak concluded, raising his eyebrows.

Even cleared his throat,

“Yeah. I mean, I never did that myself, and nobody had ever done it for me, before that night, and I had no idea that I would _like_ it. I used to think that it was a little weird, to be honest.”

Isak grimaced,

“Yeah, I mean, objectively it is probably not everyone’s first instinct to put their tongue into another person’s ass.”

Even stared at him for a few seconds, before he suddenly burst out laughing, his eyes crinkling so beautifully, his whole face lighting up as he kept laughing, leaning over a bit, a hand on his stomach.

It made something inside of Isak warm up, not in a sexual way, in a cozy, calm way, seeing Even this happy.

“You’re probably right about that,” Even agreed, taking a couple of deep breaths, wiping at his eyes.

Isak grinned, one hand dropping to Even’s thigh,

“But once I got used to it, I actually liked it. You know, I like the technique that comes with it, I like it because I’m good at it and it was fun learning… well, different things you could do to make it good. When I did it to you it mostly made me happy that you seemed to like it so much.”

Even hummed, tilting his head,

“So I can, like, hope for a repeat?”

Isak chuckled, leaning in for a kiss,

“Anytime, baby. If I would have known that you enjoyed it that much I would have done it again, I just- I get distracted too easily.”

Even grinned, before he took a deep breath, a little more serious again,

“You said that you liked the technique of it. Rimming. Do you also like it when somebody does that for you?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Would you- I don’t want to say teach me, but, like, show me, sort of? How you like it, how to make it good?” Even asked, blushing a little, and Isak melted inside.

His boyfriend really was the most considerate person in the world. Who would have guessed.

“Absolutely,” he smiled, “but I mean, did you go down on your girlfriend? I can imagine that you can easily use some of those skills. It’s not rocket science or anything.”

“Yeah, sure, I did that a lot,” Even nodded, “but I guess it’s different, right?”

Isak lifted his hands, shrugging,

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Did you never do anything with a girl?” Even asked, eyes serious and interested.

“Nah. I mean, kissing, and maybe a little, what would you call it, hand stuff? Like, I touched a girl’s boob and we sort of touched and stuff, but I always stopped when she wanted to go further. It didn’t do much for me and I was terrified that I wouldn’t get hard, you know.”

“When was the first time you did anything with a boy?” Even asked, leaning against the headboard now, obviously settling in for a long talk.

Isak smiled, laying down on his stomach across from Even,

“Seventeen, I think? I came out around that time, had my first boyfriend. My first time was actually pretty good, too. We started out with handjobs, blowjobs, and when we had sex for the first time, I topped, and then a few weeks later I bottomed for the first time.”

“How did that go?” Even asked, curiously. Isak smiled,

“Good. I mean, it hurt, but not badly or anything, it was more the discomfort of getting used to it, if that makes any sense. It took a few times before we figured out where exactly my prostate was, so until then, it was just, I don’t know, nice. And then it was pretty great.”

Isak smiled, reaching out to take Even’s hand, playing with his fingers,

“How about you?”

“I had my first girlfriend when I was fifteen, and we had sex pretty quickly. Which was good. I mean, it wasn’t actually good sex, obviously. She didn’t come, I lasted about a minute, it was embarrassing and stuff, but,” Even smiled, shrugging, “It was still good. Nice, and gentle and we trusted each other a lot.”

Isak pressed a kiss against Even’s palm,

“That does sound really good.”

“And we broke up when I was nineteen, and I started figuring out that I wasn’t just into girls and I had sex with a couple of guys. It took me some time to actually bottom and it was… okay. To be honest, I think the first time that was actually really, really good was with you.”

Isak knew it was a pretty cocky move, but he still couldn’t help but beam proudly at that,

“Yeah?”

Even rolled his eyes, pulling his legs in to cross them, leaning over to shove Isak a little bit,

“I shouldn’t have said that. You’re arrogant enough.”

Isak grinned, hiding his face for a second,

“Sorry. I’m just happy you’re having a good time with me.”                         

Even smiled, running a hand through Isak’s hair,

“The best time.”

“What made it so good?” Isak asked curiously, tilting his head.

“I don’t know,” Even shrugged, moving his hand through Isak’s hair again, playing with the curls at the nape of his neck and then at his temple, “you just- I don’t know. Maybe it was just because I was so over the top in love with you and it didn’t have anything to do with your skills at all,” Even teased, pulling at a lock with a grin.

Isak turned his head to gently bite Even’s hand,

“I doubt it,” he teased back, pressing a kiss where he had just bitten Even.

“Is there anything particular that really turns you on? Something I don’t know about yet?” Even asked, not as shy anymore, more confident and interested, and Isak couldn’t help it.

It turned him on a little.

He hummed, thinking about the question,

“Hairpulling, but I think you figured that out already. Sometimes you… could be a little rougher, especially when we do it, you know, from behind.”

Even grinned,

“Yeah?”

Isak winked at him,

“Yeah. Not that it’s not terrific the way it is, just… something to keep in mind.”

“Noted,” Even smirked, and Isak couldn’t help himself, he pushed himself up to his hands and knees, crawling over to Even to press a kiss against his lips, soft and slow,

“So,” he whispered when he pulled back, sitting down next to Even, “what about you? Anything you’re really into? Except for rimming?”

Even rolled his eyes, chuckling a little,

“Mmm. I really like coming on you, like on your body. Face and back and stomach. I know it’s inconvenient, with showers and laundry and everything, but… yeah. It’s a good look on you.”

Isak giggled,

“Come is a good look on me?”

“Sort of. I also really like when you finger me. You’re so good at that. And I sort of… have this fantasy where I… tie you up. Maybe blindfold you. I sort of fantasize about you being… submissive, a little, like having to take what I give you, that sort of thing. Nothing too out there, just- yeah. Maybe handcuffs, if you’re up for it.”

“I’m extremely up for it,” Isak said, voice a little rough, and Even grinned at him, tilting his head to look down at Isak’s crotch,

“Seriously? You’re hard?”

“Well, I was already half-hard before we started talking, so…” Isak shrugged.

“Do you have any fantasies, baby?” Even asked, cupping Isak’s jaw, kissing the corner of his mouth.

Isak hummed, thinking about it,

“Maybe, like, facefucking or something. That’s something I only did with my first boyfriend, back then, because that’s like- I don’t know, I feel like you really, _really_ need to trust someone for that. But, yeah, I could imagine you actually fucking my mouth, and I also would like to… do that to you. I, um, the sound of gagging or choking on it, that sort of does it for me,” he admitted, eyeing Even carefully, a little worried that Even might find that weird.

But Even just cleared his throat, nodded, then cleared his throat again, and his voice still sounded heavy when he said,

“Shit, yes.”

Isak chuckled,

“Yeah? You’d like that?”

Even nodded, clearing his throat again,

“And I sort of- I heard that it’s possible to come without any, um, stimulation on your dick. When you have, you know, anal sex. Is that actually possible? Did you ever do that?”

Isak smiled,

“Yeah, it’s possible. Or at least, for some people it is. I had sex with a guy once who actually came just from me fucking him, and he told me that he was able to do that pretty much on cue, like, penetration was pretty much enough for him, he didn’t need a hand ever. But I also know a lot of guys who say that it’s not possible for them at all.”

“Did you ever do it? Did you ever come without any… touching?” Even asked curiously, and Isak couldn’t help but melt a little inside.

He had always liked this, talking about preferences, talking about sex, but with Even, it was so much more interesting, because Even was so unapologetic about the things he wanted to know and the things he liked. They were both fighting for the right words sometimes, but Isak could tell that they were both interested in the other one, that they were both opening up about their kinks and things they liked, and even though he couldn’t help but get a little bit hard from all of this talk, he also couldn’t help his heart skipping a few beats when he looked at Even’s curious gaze.

“Yeah, a couple of times. Once or twice during sex, but a couple of times when a guy fingered me, that usually works better for me, you can actually touch the prostate, right, when you just have penetrative sex, you can touch it, but not as… directly? If that makes any sense.”

“And is it better than coming just… normally?”

“Mh, yeah, for me it was more intense. The guy I told you about, he told me that for him it doesn’t feel that different, some guys say it is like an out-of-body experience or whatever, so apparently, there’s a lot of different opinions. But for me, it felt just like more? I think I would have come much quicker if I would just have touched myself, you know, so maybe it was more intense because it took so long or whatever, but yeah, that was… good.”

“I’d love to try that,” Even admitted.

“We can,” Isak smiled, leaning in for another soft kiss, “but don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t work. Or if it takes a few tries or whatever.”

“Okay,” Even agreed, lacing their fingers together, “so, did you ever use toys?”

 

They talked for a few more hours, about sex toys and what they would like to try with them, about masturbation and about taking naked pictures, or even naked pictures during sex, they talked about different places they would like to have sex and about dressing in certain clothes. They talked about their other experiences, guys they had been with, and things they had liked and disliked about sex with them. Even told Isak about sex with girls and what he liked about that, and it was the first time Isak actually became interested in girl’s anatomy, because Even was talking about it.

They talked and talked and talked, and when they had sex before they went to sleep, it wasn’t kinky or crazy or adventurous. It was slow and gentle and loving, and they stared into each other’s eyes, lacing their hands together.

Just like their talk, it was an expression of trust, and it was everything Isak had wanted that night.

 

* * *

 

**Even Optimist Bech Næsheim** **♡**

 

hey bby

just finished my seminar can I come over?

 

hi

sorry I think I need some space today

is that ok?

 

of course

anything I can do?

 

no not right now

I just had a weird day

 

okay

don’t hesitate to call or anything if you need me

 

okay

 

I love you

 

I love you too

see you tomorrow <3

 

* * *

 

“In how much trouble would we be if we stole one of those aprons, and then you could make me waffles in them,” Isak wondered, leaning against the counter, playing with the waistline of his own apron, “specifically, wearing nothing but them.”

Even chuckled, trying to hold the cup he was pouring milk into still,

“I doubt that anyone at KB would notice, but I’m guessing that Jonas would not be very happy with us.”

“Jonas is really starting to annoy me. So we had sex on the kitchen table _once_. If I wouldn’t have gotten drunk and told him, he wouldn’t even have known,” Isak pouted, nodding towards the cup Even was still pouring milk into,

“Done?”

Even hummed, adding some finishing touches before he handed Isak the cup,

“There you go, baby.”

Isak smiled when he saw that Even had created a tiny milk foam panda bear on top of his cappuccino,

“Aww, you’re so talented. Can I have your phone for a second?”

“Why?”

“Mine’s in the break room and I can’t drink it until I take a picture.”

“You have like a million pictures of bears and hearts and stuff on your drinks by now,” Even rolled his eyes, handing his phone over.

“Okay, taking pics of your stupid latte art is the one romantic, cheesy thing I do in this relationship, and you mock me for it!” Isak pointed out, playfully annoyed, grabbing the phone, smiling at Even’s lockscreen for a second.

It was a picture of the two of them in bed together, cuddling and kissing. They had just woken up, hair all soft from sleep, skin still a little bit blushed from the warmth of Isak’s bed. Isak loved that picture.

He took a quick picture of the panda bear, before handing the phone back,

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for being cheesy and romantic and annoying,” Even grinned, and Isak had to bite back a comment when there were a few more customers coming in.

He took orders and Even made drinks, and it was so chill.

Isak had not known what to expect from working with Even now that they were together, but if he was completely honest, not much had changed. Even was still playing ridiculous music, and Isak was still passionately hating him for it, they still fought over stupid small things, and they still worked well together when it was a stressful day with many customers. The only thing that had changed was probably that now they could shamelessly eye-fuck each other during their shifts, and maybe steal a couple of small kisses and touches when it was a quiet day and no one was looking.

“Hey Isak,” a voice stopped Isak from staring at Even making a latte, and he turned around to the next customer.

“Hey…” Isak said, stopping, trying to place the guy.

_Johan? Jakob? Julian?_

“Lukas,” the guy filled in, beaming at Isak.

_Oh yeah._

Isak started to remember sleeping with him before the whole Even thing had started, a couple of times actually. Lukas was tall, had messy brown hair and gorgeous green eyes, his cheeks and chin covered in light stubble. He did look like he walked right out of an _Abercrombie and Fitch_ ad.

“Sure. Hey. How are you?” Isak asked with a smile.

“I’m good, busy at uni, but good. How have you been?” Lukas asked, leaning against the counter, obviously not planning on ordering anything soon.

Isak practically felt Even’s eyes on him.

“Really good,” Isak smiled.

“Well, you do look hotter than ever,” Lukas flirted, winking at Isak.

“That’s nice,” Isak smiled back, “It’s not easy getting compliments when you’re next to this one all day,” he pointed over at Even, who looked a bit confused.

“That’s my boyfriend, by the way,” Isak added proudly.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you had a… didn’t you sort of say that you didn’t… well, do that?” Lukas asked, expression somewhere between surprised and confused.

“Yeah, well, in order to do him, I sort of have to do all of that relationship crap too,” Isak grinned, not really looking at Lukas anymore, eyes fixed on Even, who smiled and rolled his eyes,

“Idiot.”

“Well, you guys make a really cute couple,” Lukas concluded, smiling at them.

Isak nodded, somewhat proudly,

“Yeah, I know. So, what can I get you? Even is crazy good at latte art. He can put leaves and hearts and even swans on top of your drink,” he bragged, reaching over to stroke Even’s shoulder, hand moving down to his bicep to squeeze lightly.

“I can also do bears,” Even reminded him with a grin.

“Yeah, baby, but you only do those for me,” Isak shot back, smiling at him, before he turned back to Lukas, who grinned, ordering a cappuccino with a swan on it, chatting with Even while Isak took the next order.

 

“You didn’t have to tell that guy that we were dating,” Even pointed out hours later when they were cleaning up.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Isak asked with a frown, wiping the counter clean.

“No reason, I just- when we got together you asked if you could flirt with other guys, and I assumed that you wanted that,” Even shrugged, continuing to clean the coffee maker.

Isak stepped a little closer, pressing a soft kiss against Even’s lips,

“I only want to flirt with you, baby,” he mumbled, kissing Even again, just a light brush of his lips against Even’s, before he stepped back to dry off the counter.

“Yeah?” Even asked, blushing a little, and Isak smiled at him, nodding. They smiled at each other for a second, before Even shook his head slightly,

“That guy was smoking _hot_ , though.”

Isak rolled his eyes in pretend pleasure,

“Oh my _god_ so hot.”

“Did you fuck him?” Even asked curiously, “Was it awesome?”

“Yeah, but it was a while back,” Isak shrugged, “It was good.”

“Just good?” Even teased, stepping closer again.

“Every guy sort of became _just good_ , because now I have higher standards to hold them to,” Isak explained, gently biting Even’s chin, then his jaw, before Even pulled him closer, a hand in Isak’s hair, pressing their lips together.

Isak sighed into the kiss, licking into Even’s mouth, one hand in Even’s hair, the other hand moving over his shoulder and then down his back.

He gasped when Even grabbed the backs of his thighs, and he instinctively jumped up a little so that Even could lift him onto the counter, and moaned quietly when Even moved closer, still kissing with lots and lots of tongue.

“I love being with you,” Isak mumbled, locking his feet behind Even’s thighs, tilting his head to push his tongue into Even’s mouth.

“I love being with you,” Even whispered back, hands running up Isak’s thighs, settling on his hips, “I love you.”

“I lov-“ Isak started, interrupting himself when _Optimist_ started playing, pushing Even off him,

“Forget it, I’m breaking up with you,” he announced, jumping off the counter.

Even laughed, playfully chasing after him, and Isak couldn’t help but burst out laughing as well.

 

\--

 

“Is it weird that we never really fight?” Isak asked, turning his head slightly when his phone buzzed, “can you check that?”

Even rolled over to get Isak’s phone,

“Maybe we’re about to fight, because someone just sent you a dick pic again.”

Isak chuckled,

“What? I deleted Grindr weeks ago.”

“Someone texted you,” Even explained, tapping around on Isak’s phone, “you saved him as _Saturday Night_ , with a question mark.”

“Text him that I’m happily married now,” Isak joked, turning to lie on his side, looking at Even.

“On it,” Even said, sending a text, before he kept tapping around on Isak’s phone.

“What are you doing?” Isak asked.

“Just checking what you saved me as,” Even explained, and Isak rolled his eyes, trying to playfully pinch and tickle Even, who just giggled, wiggling away from Isak to protect the phone he was still scrolling through,

“ _Even Optimist Bech Næsheim_?!”

“What? I found that very fitting,” Isak grinned, settling back into his pillows, as Even locked Isak’s phone, tossing it onto the nightstand,

“What a weird, unromantic name.”

“Tsss. I added a fucking heart to it when we started dating, what the hell do you want from me?”

“Still. So uncreative,” Even kept complaining, reaching out to gently stroke Isak’s chest through the fabric of his shirt.

“What did you save me as?” Isak wanted to know, closing his eyes at the touch.

“Sex hair.”

Isak squinted his eyes, staring at Even in disbelief,

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. I too added a heart to it after we started dating,” Even added, his hand lying still on Isak’s chest as he looked down, blushing slightly, “okay, maybe a little while before we started dating.”

“Idiot. Tell me how it’s better than my name for you,” Isak demanded, arching his back a little as if to remind Even to keep touching him.

Even started patting his chest again, moving his hand up and down slowly,

“It’s definitely more accurate,” he mumbled, leaning over to kiss Isak’s head, inhaling deeply when his nose was buried in Isak’s curls.

“Idiot,” Isak repeated fondly before turning to lie on his side again, “so. Do you think it’s weird that we never fight?”

“We do fight, baby. We fight all the fucking time. We fought for an hour today.”

“Yeah, because drying dishes is stupid when they dry all by themselves anyway,” Isak frowned.

“You literally broke a cup trying to somehow put all of your dishes on that rack,” Even argued.

“I’m not having this discussion again,” Isak interrupted, “my point is that we don’t really fight about real things.”

“You called Daenerys Targaryen ‘that blond chick’. I think that’s about as real as it gets,” Even pointed out, his expression softening when he saw that Isak was starting to get annoyed,

“I know what you mean, but is that bad? I think we’re just both not the most pushy, judgmental people. It’s not like we hide our opinion from each other, but we just don’t push when there’s no need to. Other people got pissed at me when I didn’t want to see them for a few days or something. You don’t. That makes you pretty amazing.”

Isak smiled, moving in closer to hide his face in Even’s neck,

“Stop.”

“It’s true.”

Isak sighed.

He loved this. He loved being vulnerable and being comforted. And Even was so perfect at it.

The real reason Isak was worried was because sometimes, he was wondering how everything could be this good. He was waiting for something to go horribly wrong, and if he was honest, he was scared of losing Even in the process. He knew he wasn’t the kind of person who became attached quickly, and he certainly wasn’t a person who made their boyfriend their whole life – but bottom line was still that he didn’t want to lose Even. He really wanted him… here.

And when Isak told Even all of that, voice quiet and small, holding on to him, Even just kissed his forehead and his temple and promised that, even if they would have the biggest fight possible, he wouldn’t leave.

“You promise?”

“I promise,” Even mumbled, kissing Isak’s forehead again.

Isak almost waited for Even to tease him, tease him about his softer side, tease him about being this anxious, about being so insecure sometimes.

But Even didn’t.

Isak loved that they teased and mocked each other, probably 99 percent of the time, but he also enjoyed the one percent when they just didn’t.

When there were just cuddles and forehead kisses and trust.

 

\--

 

“Oh my god, right there,” Isak moaned, grinding his hips down, one hand tangled into his own hair.

“Is that good?” Even asked, as if Isak’s loud moans weren’t enough indication.

“Yeah, keep it right there and- aaaah, shit,” Isak panted, as Even pressed a few open-mouthed kisses against the inside of Isak’s knee,

“You sound so hot.”

Isak moaned again, wincing when suddenly his phone started ringing,

“Shit, hold on.”

“Just don’t answer it,” Even suggested, pressing his fingers into Isak even deeper.

“It’s Jonas’ ringtone, I have to answer,” Isak insisted, grabbing Even’s wrist with one hand, reaching for his phone with the other.

“Jonas has his own ringtone? Do I also have my own ringtone?” Even asked with a pout, and Isak rolled his eyes,

“I’m not discussing that right now- Can you maybe take your fingers out of my ass for a second?”

Even grinned, thrusting them against Isak’s prostate again, and Isak let out a heavy breath, before he pushed Even’s hand away, making him pull out,

“Asshole.”

“Answer your phone, baby.”

“Hey, Jonas, what’s up?” Isak asked, swatting Even’s hands away as his boyfriend kissed up and down Isak’s thighs, obviously determined to distract him.

“Hey, man, are you home?” Jonas asked, and Isak could tell something was wrong.

“Yeah, I’m home,” he said, pushing at Even’s shoulder, shaking his head at him to get him to stop, “what’s up, man?”

“I had a fight with Eva and- I think I fucked up. I don’t know. Do you have something to do right now or-“

“No, I mean, I’m home and I can talk. No problem at all.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think, okay? Just get home and we’ll talk it through.”

“Thanks, man, you’re the best.”

“No problem. Bye.”

Isak hung up, sighing as he looked at Even. He wondered if they still had time for a quicky before Jonas got here, but then shook his head instead,

“I think you should go.”

“Everything okay with him?” Even asked, not questioning Isak’s request, getting out of bed.

“He had a fight with Eva. It’s probably nothing, but he sounded pretty broken up about it,” Isak said, reaching for his boxers, pulling them on.

“Shit. Well, tell him I said hi and I’m sure everything will work out,” Even said, wincing when he pulled his jeans over his still hard dick.

Isak winced in sympathy,

“Sorry.”

“Baby, it’s fine. Call me later? You can take care of this with a round of phone sex.”

“As if you’re still going to be hard in an hour,” Isak teased, grinning at Even.

“You should talk to my boyfriend some time. He thinks my stamina is off the charts,” Even winked, and Isak groaned,

“Will I ever hear the fucking end of this?”

“Off the charts, Valtersen,” Even grinned, pulling Isak’s hoodie over his head.

“That’s mine.”

“Yeah, so? I need something that smells like you so I can get myself off easier when I get home,” Even explained, and Isak smiled,

“I’m not quite sure if that’s the creepiest or cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Even thought about it for a second,

“I think cutest, but I see your point. Have fun with Jonas,” he said, leaning in for a kiss, before Isak walked him out.

They kissed again at the door, and Isak missed him already.

But when Jonas got home ten minutes later, completely broken up about the stupid fight he and Eva had, about what they said and how he didn’t mean it, how he loved her and just wanted everything to be okay again, Isak didn’t miss Even at all.

He just loved him even more, for letting Isak have this.

For not making Isak feel badly about being there for his best friend.

 

\--

 

“What are you doing?” Isak asked, already crawling into Even’s lap.

He had been writing a paper for hours now, and he was tired of it. The class he was writing it for was boring, the topic was boring, and his hot boyfriend was sitting on his bed with a laptop, looking good enough to eat.

“Editing,” Even answered, saving a file on his laptop before pushing it to the side, putting his hands on Isak’s ass, humming happily.

Isak sighed, properly straddling Even, crawling closer on all fours to press kisses against Even’s neck,

“I hate this fucking paper. I need distraction.”

“You need attention,” Even corrected, but he didn’t seem too mad about it, leaning his head to the side to give Isak more access.

“That, too,” Isak admitted, “you’re so hot like this. Sitting there, in my shirt, in my bed, looking hot as fuck. I can’t concentrate like that,” he complained, kissing up Even’s neck now, until he reached his jaw.

“I apologize,” Even grinned, leaning back a little to finally get a real kiss, and Isak let out a sigh of relief when their lips met, immediately licking into Even’s mouth, making the kiss dirty and passionate.

Even kissed back with just the same passion, his hands still on Isak’s ass, one of them slowly sliding up his body, over his side and then chest, into his neck, pulling him closer, before moving up into Isak’s hair, gently messing it up while they kept kissing, tongues sliding together, gently biting and licking.

Isak finally sat down on Even’s hips so that he could stop leaning on his hands, moving them over Even’s chest instead, fisting one hand into Even’s hair, the other one holding onto his bicep for balance as he tilted his head even more, massaging his tongue against Even’s, warm and wet.

They kept making out, not really moving further, just enjoying themselves and each other.

Isak loved having Even here during lazy Sundays, just so he had someone to crawl all over for a few minutes to clear his head. He was just wearing a pair of sweatpants, Even was still in the same boxers he had slept in, and they were both wearing white shirts, and Isak couldn’t help but think that if they had a camera right here, it would be the perfect set up for porn.

Until there was a knock on the door and Jonas was standing in the room, instantly covering his eyes,

“Oh God.”

“Okay, we talked about this, there needs to be an actual time window between you knocking and you coming in,” Isak explained, sitting up, but not getting off Even’s lap, “you know, for your own sake.”

“Sorry. Jesus. I thought you went home,” Jonas said, gesturing towards Even.

“The fucker never goes home,” Isak rolled his eyes, gently pulling a few hair strands into Even’s face, “trust me, all I wanted to do was write my paper today.”

“Clearly,” Jonas said dryly, gesturing towards them, before he cleared his throat,

“Anyway, I’m heading over to Eva’s and I’m spending the night, so-“

“How exciting!” Isak smiled, nudging Even, “Say congratulations, Jonas is about to lose his virginity!”

“Congrats, buddy!” Even cheered, before he and Isak both giggled.

“You guys really are a match made in heaven,” Jonas rolled his eyes, “feel free to be as loud as you want tonight, and please stay away from any kitchen furniture.”

Isak grinned, giving him a small salute, shouting,

“Say hi to Eva, and have fun!” as Jonas closed the door, before turning back around to Even,

“Did you hear that?”

“He thinks we’re a match made in heaven,” Even smiled, gently slapping Isak’s ass.

“No, he’s gone for the whole afternoon and night,” Isak stressed, winking at Even suggestively.

“Well,” Even said, putting both of his hands on Isak’s ass again, pulling him closer, “what are you suggesting, tiger?”

 

“Oh my fucking _god_ , Even,” Isak moaned, using the heel of his foot to desperately try to pull Even closer, and Jesus, he was really close to actually crying from pleasure right now.

Even lifted his head a little, and Isak almost came right there and then, when he saw how Even looked, half of his chin covered in spit, his hair an absolute mess, his eyes bright and full of excitement.

“Good?” Even asked with a smirk, and Isak couldn’t help it.

He moaned. Hearing his boyfriend’s voice was enough to make him moan.

“There’s not fucking way you never did that before,” Isak panted, shifting on his bed as far as the scarf that Even tied him to the headboard with allowed it.

“Never. Just, you know, on my ex,” Even grinned, sucking a hickey into the inside of Isak’s thigh as they held eye contact.

“How are you guys not together anymore?” Isak asked, completely out of breath, “how did she not lock you up somewhere?”

“Is that what you’re planning?” Even asked, kissing down, gently breathing hot breath against Isak’s hole, and Isak whimpered,

“Yeah,” he admitted, moving his leg again, trying to pull Even closer with it, “I’m never letting you go. Never, ever, ever.”

“Here I am, trying for months to get you to be a little bit romantic, and rimming is what actually does the job?” Even teased, gently circling Isak’s hole with his tongue, so slowly that Isak was not sure anymore if this was meant to be pleasure or torture. He whimpered again,

“How is locking you up and keeping you as a sex slave romantic?” he panted, before clearing his throat,

“It’s quite offensive actually, forget that I said that.”

Even laughed against Isak’s hole, and of all the techniques that Isak definitely knew and perfected, he had never realized how incredible it was to have someone actually laugh in this position. The vibration from Even’s lips, the hot breath he was letting out with each chuckle – Isak was sure he had died and gone to heaven.

He groaned loudly when Even started licking again, his tongue pushing into Isak just a little bit every other lick, and Isak let out a sob when Even pulled back again, gently biting Isak’s thigh, clearly waiting for Isak to lift his head,

“I just wanted to say that I’ll never let you go either.”

“You’re sweet and I love you, but stop talking and keep doing-“ Isak moaned when Even’s tongue started moving again, “that,” he breathed out, pulling on that fucking scarf with both of his hands, trying to hold on to _something_.

Even kept doing his best, and seriously, Isak had never felt anything like this before. He was moaning so loudly that his throat started to hurt from it, and he started to wonder if he would be able to come from just rimming. If anyone would be able to make him, it was Even.

Who was sneaking a hand up, wrapping it around Isak’s dick and started stroking him, effective and quick, and Isak groaned loudly, arching is back, his toes curling, his legs shaking as he finally came, painting his stomach in white, and Even kept working his tongue, his hand still tight around Isak’s dick, and Isak felt like his orgasm was taking hours.

He slowly blinked his eyes open when he felt Even pull back, both of his big, warm hands stroking Isak’s thighs,

“You okay there?”

Isak opened his mouth, made some sort of sound, that even with all the imagination in the world could not have been interpreted as an actual word, and just let his head fall to the side, trying to catch a breath.

Even grinned, and Isak couldn’t find it in him to be annoyed with that smug grin.

He hummed happily when Even kissed his way up Isak’s body, licking up the come on his stomach, before he reached his lips, catching them in a deep kiss, that Isak had to pull back from after only seconds, because he was just too out of breath.

“Hi,” Even said quietly, pecking Isak’s lips again, and Isak cleared his throat,

“Hi.”

“You okay?” Even repeated, and Isak sighed, shifting a little, sad that he couldn’t hug Even right now with his fucking hands still tied to the headboard,

“Better than okay.”

“Was that good?” Even asked, and Isak didn’t believe it this time that he was asking out of interest. He was looking for praise because the fucker knew that he had just rocked Isak’s world and it made Isak shrug,

“Had better,” he lied, raising an eyebrow at Even.

“Oh, as if!” Even teased, his hand moving down to Isak’s side, pinching it, making Isak squirm.

“You were okay,” Isak kept lying, “I mean, I think I fell asleep for a second there, but all in all, it was fine for your first try.”

Even shook his head, grinning as he leaned down, grabbing Isak’s chin with his hand,

“You’re such a fucker,” he smiled against Isak’s lips, before catching them in another deep, slow, dirty kiss.

Isak sighed when Even pulled back,

“In all seriousness, though?” he said, because all the teasing aside, he felt like serious post-sex talk was an important part of aftercare, “that was amazing. I loved it. You are so good at that. And being tied up just made it better, because you had so much more power over how this was going down. And you are freaking amazing at using your breath!”

“I read a couple of online articles that all said that, you know, actually blowing and breathing on it is a thing, so,” Even grinned, snuggling his head against Isak’s neck for a second.

“You read articles about rimming?” Isak asked, laughing a little.

Even pushed himself up onto his elbows, looking down at Isak,

“Yeah. Sure. I wanted to make your feel good.”

“That’s… really cool, actually,” Isak smiled, tilting his chin up, and Even smiled back as he leaned down, their kisses now slower and more tender.

“So,” Isak breathed when they pulled apart again, “you want to get me out of those ties any time soon or do you have any other plans?”

“Well, can you stay in them for another few minutes or is it starting to hurt or anything?” Even asked, pressing a kiss against Isak’s cheek.

“Not hurt, just sucks that I can’t touch you,” Isak admitted, wrapping both of his legs around Even instead, tilting his head with a happy smile.

Even grinned,

“That’s kind of the point, though, baby.”

“If you give me another few minutes, you could always fuck me like this,” Isak suggested, before he frowned, “or did you come already?”

Even laughed,

“I think you would have noticed if I would have come.”

Isak shrugged, rubbing the heel of his foot against Even’s calf and then his thigh,

“I was pretty out of it because my boyfriend can do literal magic with his tongue.”

“To be honest, my jaw is starting to really hurt,” Even admitted, wiggling his jaw a little, making Isak laugh,

“Well, I can only speak for myself, but I’d say it was worth it.”

“Me, too,” Even smiled, kissing Isak again, with more meaning this time, rubbing his still almost hard dick against Isak’s thigh as they kissed, and Isak arched his back a little, moving his hips and his legs to make it better for Even.

“Sure you’re not too sensitive?” Even asked, stroking Isak’s cheek.

“I’m good. Just make sure to use a lot of lube,” Isak reminded him, leaning in for another kiss.

“Duh,” Even teased, and Isak chuckled, wrapping his legs around Even again, shifting slightly to make himself more comfortable as they kissed again, a little more out of breath, Even definitely fully turned on again, and Isak slowly getting there.

“It’s so hot that we get to do this without condoms now,” Even breathed against Isak’s shoulder as he was trying to get the lube out of Isak’s nightstand.

Isak just hummed, kissing Even’s shoulder, just because it was right there in front of him, sighing happily when Even was getting back into position and they could kiss properly again.

Even reached down with one hand, slicking himself up, before he gave Isak one final kiss, sitting back to admire Isak.

And Isak arched his back just a little, shifted his body just a little, spreading his legs just a little more, a smug grin on his face, because he saw that Even was getting even harder just from looking at him, that his breath was speeding up just from seeing this.

And aside from seeing Even this turned on, Isak couldn’t help but feel a little, well, touched, that he was the one who got to make Even’s fantasy come true, that he was the one who Even did this with, that they were together, doing something as profane as having sex, and still there was so much trust and love and intimacy there that Isak had a hard time not choking up over it.

“You can put my legs on your shoulders,” he said, voice sounding a little emotional, and Even looked up, gently grabbing Isak’s legs to guide them up and over his shoulders,

“You okay, baby?”

“Just glad I get to do this with you,” Isak smiled, not in the mood to hold back on honesty and emotions. This wasn’t the time for teasing.

“Shit, Isak, so am I,” Even promised, before moving a little closer, his lubed up dick pressing against Isak’s hole, and Isak moaned quietly at that, breathing steadily to relax his muscle, and Even let out a heavy breath,

“It’s amazing how you can just… open up like that,” he mumbled, his voice dripping with pure admiration as he breached Isak, going slow.

Isak just kept breathing, moaning a little when Even kept pushing, in and in and in, and Isak’s mouth was getting dry,

“Just takes practice,” he panted, “you’ll get there, I promise.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, it’s really just… _ah_ \- learning to control the- _aah_ ,” Isak moaned, pulling on the scarf again, wincing at how full he felt, it was still a little bit overwhelming sometimes.

“You look so delicious,” Even mumbled, seemingly just as overwhelmed as Isak.

“Just- push in, baby,” Isak encouraged, moaning when Even did as he asked.

“Kiss me,” he demanded next, and Even leaned down, pressing a hot and heavy kiss to Isak’s lips, and Isak felt so hot all over because with his legs up in the air like that, Even was pushing so deep inside him that Isak felt like he was fucking everywhere.

“Shit you are flexible,” Even gasped, pulling back just a little to thrust into Isak, who gasped at how fucking deep the angle allowed Even to go.

“You good?” Even asked immediately.

“Perfect. You’re so deep inside me, I can feel you everywhere,” Isak mumbled, feeling how his arms were getting tired, how his hair was starting to stick to his forehead, how his whole body was screaming for release.

And still, there was absolutely nothing he’d rather do right now.

“I love you so fucking much,” Even breathed against Isak’s lips, grinding their hips together slowly, making Isak let out another strangled sound,

“I love you so fucking much, too,” Isak panted, pulling on that scarf again at the bare reflex to somehow touch Even already.

It was killing him that he couldn’t.

Even started thrusting, going slow at first, because of how deep he could go, slowly picking up his speed after a while, moaning loudly every other thrust, bending down to press hot kisses against Isak’s lips.

Every time Even moved down to kiss him, Isak could feel him hit his prostate, could feel him so deep inside him that he was sure that he would never be able to feel anything else.

He moaned, and moaned, and moaned, saying Even’s name again and again and again, and Even was being just as loud, making it undeniably clear to Isak just how much this was turning him on.

They were both moaning, panting, cursing, the sound of skin slapping against skin was filling the room, as well as the sound of their lips crushing together, of their tongues licking and touching.

And still, whenever Even looked at him, everything seemed to be completely silent in Isak’s head.

Every thought was gone, every question was gone, everything was just a mix of pleasure and closeness and _Even_.

“Think I’m gonna come,” Isak whimpered against Even’s lips, moaning loudly when Even pushed deeply into him, holding still right there,

“Yeah? Like this? Or do you need a hand?” Even asked, and his voice sounded so out of it that it made Isak shiver,

“No hand, I think- _aahh_ , Even, shit,” Isak moaned, and Even nodded, thrusting into Isak at a perfect angle, and Isak was pulling on his ties non stop now, his wrists seriously starting to hurt, as he arched his back, wondering if his body may had a limit of how much it could possibly take.

“Come on, baby,” Even encouraged, as he could obviously tell how close Isak was, “come, Isak, I know you can do it.”

“Even, fuck,” Isak moaned, his toes curling and his vision sort of blurring when he started coming, and it was so intense that he didn’t really register whether or not Even was coming as well.

They both groaned in pleasure, and Isak had to force his eyes open to look at Even, who was staring at Isak, and Isak felt like nothing would ever be more intense than this.

Even kept thrusting into him, quick, short thrusts, not really aiming at anything anymore, just helplessly thrusting into him to make it longer, make it better, and Isak was so out of breath that he was pretty much fighting for it at this point.

He tried taking a couple more breaths, slowly able to relax the tense muscles in his legs, and shook his head slightly,

“Need you… to pull out,” he panted, wincing at how oversensitive he was getting, and Even just sat back, doing what Isak told him, and Isak couldn’t help but moan when he felt Even’s come leaking out as well as Even pulled out, slowly dripping down onto his bed.

“Shit, that looks good,” Even moaned, actually _moaned_ , at the sight, and Isak chuckled quietly.

He turned his head to wipe his sweaty forehead on his bicep, before turning back to Even,

“I get that you enjoy looking at that, but you really need to untie me now.”

“Oh! Shit,” Even nodded hectically, crawling up Isak’s body a little to untie him, his hands being so gentle and so kind, as he carefully guided down Isak’s arms, kissing his biceps and his wrists and everything in between.

“I can’t move, ever,” Isak sighed, stretching out both of his legs. He knew that Even would probably like to keep his legs open for him to look at Isak some more, but Isak was not having it. He needed to fucking rest now. He felt like there was not a bone in his body anymore.

“Me neither,” Even sighed, “should I get something to clean you up or do you want to shower anyway?”

“I think we both need to shower at some point,” Isak breathed, “but I need to just be here for a second before I can do any of that.”

“Deal,” Even agreed, lying down next to Isak, carefully kissing his shoulder, reaching for his – or Isak’s – shirt to wipe away the worst mess on Isak’s chest.

“That was… I don’t even have words for what that was,” Isak admitted, and Even just chuckled,

“Definitely an out of body experience.”

Isak let out a soft giggle,

“Yeah, definitely.”

“Are your arms okay?” Even asked, pressing another kiss against Isak’s shoulder.

“I probably won’t be able to open a door by myself for a couple of days,” Isak sighed, lifting one hand just to let it fall down onto his chest, “If anyone asks, I was at the gym the whole weekend.”

“If anyone asks, I’m going to let them know that I have the hottest boyfriend in the world, and that we had the best sex in the world,” Even teased, reaching for the hand on Isak’s chest, lacing their fingers together.

“I’m actually kind of surprised that you haven’t posted anything on my Instagram yet,” Isak mocked back, turning his head over to look at Even, smiling when his boyfriend leaned in for a kiss instantly.

“Hey, thank you,” Even said quietly, “for making one of my fantasies come true.”

“You’re very welcome,” Isak smiled, leaning in for another slow kiss, “I love you, you know that?”

“I love you, too,” Even said, bumping their noses together, and Isak sighed,

“If I wouldn’t be so fucking tired I’d definitely get out of this bed right now. We’re being so fucking cheesy.”

“It’s different when it’s post-sex glow. Then you’re supposed to be cheesy,” Even explained, playing with Isak’s hair.

“Oh yeah?” Isak yawned, grinning at Even.

“Yeah. Hold on, let me put on some music and you’ll see, in the state that you’re in, it won’t even bother you,” Even suggested, leaning over to get Isak’s phone.

“Please, god, no,” Isak sighed, squinting his eyes shut, “don’t, Even! I’m helpless, I can’t move. Don’t make me listen to-“

_“I could stay awake just to hear you breathing,”_ Even sang along, and Isak groaned, _“watch you smile while you are sleeping, while you’re far away and dreaming…”_

“Does anyone think it’s actually sweet or whatever to watch another person sleep? How is that romantic and not over the top creepy?” Isak argued, wincing as Even turned the volume up.

“I see your point,” Even admitted, “For what it’s worth, I don’t watch you when you’re sleeping, because you’re just a drooling, snoring mess.”

“Fuck you, I do not snore.”

“You snore in a cute way. Like a puppy.”

“Bite me,” Isak sighed, burying his face in his pillow to try and escape Even’s choice of music.

_“I don’t want to close my eyes! I don’t want to fall asleep, cause I’d miss you babe, and I don’t want to miss a thing!”_ Even sang, lips almost touching Isak’s neck, who winced and tried to turn away, swatting Even’s chest.

_“Lying close to you, feeling your heart beating,”_ Even kept singing, pressing wet, loud kisses against Isak’s chest, right above his heart, and Isak started wiggling away, grabbing Even’s wrists,

“Stop this bullshit!”

“It’s post-sex glow romantic! Just embrace it!” Even argued, bursting out into laughter, rolling around to lie on top of Isak again, who tried to get away from him with very little effort,

“Even!” Isak protested loudly, pushing his boyfriend away.

_“And then I kiss your eyes-“_

“Don’t you fucking dare!”

_“And thank God we’re together!”_

“Why would anyone kiss anyone’s eyes?” Isak mumbled, rolling his eyes, but he couldn’t help it.

When Even sat back a little, performing the chorus with way too dramatic gestures, pointing at Isak with every overly romantic line, using Isak’s phone as a pretend microphone, Isak just had to smile.

He tried to hide it with rolling his eyes, and with pushing Even, gently slapping his thighs and chest, but when Even got to the next chorus, Isak rolled his eyes, his smile growing impossibly big, as he started to sing along too.

It was actually happening.

He was lying in bed with Even, and they were laughing and grinning like idiots and Isak was singing along to fucking Aerosmith at the top of his lungs.

But when Even fell forward a little, catching himself on his elbows, pressing a deep, playful kiss to Isak’s lips as the song slowly faded out, Isak realized that being romantic and cheesy was completely okay sometimes.

As long as he got to do it with Even.

 

\--

 

Isak couldn’t help but smile when he opened the door to Kaffebrenneriet.

He remembered how he had first met Even here, how he had seen him standing behind that counter in his apron and his plain white T-shirt, and how he had been intrigued from the first second.

“Good morning,” Even smiled at him when he saw Isak.

He was wearing a flannel over his shirt today, sleeves rolled up over his forearms, and Isak liked it.

“Morning,” Isak smiled back, not bothering to take off his jacket or his beanie, basically moving against Even instantly, giving him a long and tight hug.

“Hi,” Even breathed against Isak’s neck, “did you miss me?”

“Not at all,” Isak teased, burying his nose into Even’s neck, “I’m just cold.”

Even laughed quietly, moving both hands up and down Isak’s back to warm him up,

“Well, I missed you.”

“It was just a weekend, Even.”

“Just admit that you missed me as well,” Even suggested, grinning smugly as he leaned back a little, both of his hands on Isak’s cheeks now.

“Of course I fucking missed you,” Isak rolled his eyes, “I miss you when you spend one fucking night at your own place, in case you didn’t notice.”

“Better,” Even grinned, leaning in for a slow, loving kiss.

Isak smiled into the kiss, pulling Even closer, tilting his head to lick into his mouth, slow and gentle.

“Hey, I have something I wanted to talk to you about,” Isak said when he pulled back.

He checked the clock on their counter, but they still had enough time until they would officially open, and he really didn’t want to wait.

“Okay,” Even said, leaning against the counter as Isak took off his jacket and then his scarf, leaving his beanie on to protect himself from teasing comments about his hair,

“Well, I don’t know if I ever told you that, but my original plan was to just work here for the summer, to save up some money for that trip. I actually planned on quitting once the semester started again.”

Even raised his eyebrows,

“But then you fell in love with a handsome, artsy barista and kept working here to win him over?”

“I won you over about five months ago, fuckface,” Isak rolled his eyes, “but yeah, maybe the fact that you were here made this job way more fun than I thought, and since I can use the money either way, I just sort of kept working here.”

Even frowned,

“Are you telling me that you’re quitting your job?”

“No, no, no,” Isak shook his head, tying his apron around his waist, “I just wanted to tell you that, due to the fact that I worked so much the last six months, and due to the fact that I hadn’t really any more expenses the last six months… I have some money that I saved up.”

“Okay.”

“I wanted to ask you if you maybe wanted to go away with me. I mean, I know you spend Christmas at your parents or whatever, but maybe we could do something over New Year’s?” Isak asked, looking at Even with a smile.

“I would love that,” Even beamed at him, “I actually already thought about things we could do on New Year’s, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted to spend it with Jonas and the guys, partying or whatever.”

Isak shrugged,

“We did have a really big party at ours last year, and that was really fun, but I just wanted to do something a little different this year. We don’t have to do anything super special, but it would be cool to get out of Oslo for a weekend, right? We could easily just rent a cabin in the woods somewhere or something. Whatever you want.”

“That’s so romantic of you, baby,” Even smiled, reaching for Isak, who rolled his eyes, grinning,

“I can be romantic!”

“You sure can,” Even agreed, “and I’m really proud that I bring that out in you. Occasionally.”

“Well, you do,” Isak said, “Occasionally.”

“I love you,” Even smiled, and Isak let out a slow breath.

It felt so right to stand here, behind the counter where he started to hate and then love Even, being so happy with each other that it annoyed Isak sometimes. Nothing in his life had ever felt this easy and right, and he enjoyed it so much.

“I love you, too, baby,” Isak promised, swaying their bodies together, wrapping his arms around Even, pulling him closer, giving him a slow, deep kiss.

He felt how Even smiled into their kiss for a second, before he tilted his head, moving his tongue into Isak’s mouth, and Isak sighed, running a hand through Even’s hair, deepening the kiss even more.

They made out lazily, slow and gentle, and nothing would ever warm Isak up as well as this.

Eventually, Isak pulled back a little, running both hands through Even’s hair teasingly,

“Guess today you’re the one with sex hair,” he grinned, pulling a strand of hair down and over Even’s forehead.

He knew that Even hated that, and as if on cue, Even did roll his eyes, swatting Isak’s hand away,

“Quit it.”

Isak giggled, tilting his chin up with a challenging sparkle in his eyes, and Even grinned back, before he reached for Isak’s beanie with both hands, pulling it down over Isak’s eyes and half of his face,

“I’ll give you sex hair later, Valtersen, just wait for it.”

Isak laughed again, surrounded by darkness,

“Bring it on, Bech Næsheim,” he grinned, and then Even put his lips on Isak’s again.

And they stood there, kissing, behind their counter, Even with sex hair and Isak with his beanie pulled over his face.

They were a mess.

The most beautiful mess.

* * *

 


End file.
